Microsoft delays return to office, will require workers to be vaccinated

Microsoft announced this week that it will be requiring workers returning to its offices in person to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

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The new policy will go into effect in September, and will include employees, guests, and vendors in all Microsoft facilities across the United States.

The company will also be delaying the full reopening of its offices for in-person work to Oct. 4, after originally setting Sept. 7 as its return date. Parents with children who are too young to be vaccinated and caregivers working with anyone who is immunosuppressed will be permitted to continue working from home until January 2022.

According to a statement from the company, Microsoft will also lay out accommodations for workers with medical conditions, or who have a religious reason for not being vaccinated.

“As we have done since the beginning of the pandemic, we continue to closely track new developments and adapt our plans as this situation evolves, keeping employee health and safety top of mind,” the company’s statement reads.

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Microsoft had previously unveiled its plans for a hybrid in-person/virtual workplace in late March, outlining a timeline to allow workers to maintain flexible work-from-home schedules while public health restrictions remain in place.

Once “most pandemic-specific work site requirements and prevention measures are removed,” the company intends to resume “nearly all campus services,” while maintaining flexible hybrid options for jobs where being onsite full time is not a necessity.

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