Microsoft to No Longer Target Specific Date for US Offices’ Reopening, Will Take Site-by-Site Approach

Microsoft said on Thursday it will no longer target a specific date for reopening all of its US offices and instead will reopen each site based on whether it meets a set of company criteria and local health guidelines.

“Given the uncertainty of COVID-19, we’ve decided against attempting to forecast a new date for a full reopening of our US work sites in favour of opening US work sites as soon as we’re able to do so safely based on public health guidance,” Microsoft said in a blog post.

Microsoft had earlier said it would open its Redmond headquarters as well as other US offices on October 4.

Microsoft on Thursday said each US site will return to work when all local government guidelines are met and when the site has reached “Stage 6” of a set of criteria the company detailed in March. Hitting the sixth stage requires that “COVID-19 is no longer a significant burden on the local community and presents itself more like an endemic virus such as the seasonal flu,” Microsoft said in an earlier blog post.

Some big tech firms are delaying a return to office, while others like Facebook are making vaccinations mandatory due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

The software giant said it will also give a 30-day transition period that provides time for employees to prepare before getting back to offices.

© Thomson Reuters 2021