Microsoft maintains hybrid model as it sets reopening date for Washington offices

Microsoft announced a reopening date for its Washington-based work sites Monday, emphasizing a commitment to a hybrid model.

Facebook the first major company to bring Seattle workers back to offices

Microsoft had previously unveiled its plans for a hybrid in-person/virtual workplace in March 2021, outlining a timeline to allow workers to maintain flexible work-from-home schedules while public health restrictions remain in place. The company has been following a phased approach to bringing its employees back to in-person work as part of that process, having had numerous planned reopening dates delayed by surges in COVID-19 cases.

Moving forward, Microsoft plans to continue giving employees the option to operate on hybrid schedules, leaving it up to individual team managers to “determine how and where they work best.”

“We’ve committed to empowering our managers with tools and resources to provide employees with the level of care they need during this transition, which includes the ability to approve requests to adjust their work site, location or hours,” Microsoft Executive Vice President Chris Capossela said in a Monday blog post.

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Starting Feb. 28, all of Microsoft’s Washington work sites will be fully open, triggering a 30-day window for employees to “make adjustments to their routines and adopt the working preferences they’ve agreed upon with their managers.” The company’s Silicon Valley campus in California will reopen on the same timeline.

Other tech companies based out of Washington have followed similar paths toward a hybrid strategy. Despite initially dictating that all corporate employees would be required to spend at least three days a week in its offices, Amazon relaxed its rules in October 2021 to allow individual teams to decide on fully remote work themselves. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also committed to allowing at least half his company’s employees to continue working from home for the next 10 years.

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