Microsoft is delaying the full reopening of its offices – the company’s “Stage 6” phase of its hybrid workplace plan – until at least September 7. This marks a delay compared to the window originally planned for July.
“Based on our ongoing consultation with health and data experts, we moved from our earliest date to the full opening of our workplaces in the USA to September 7, 2021. We continue to review the situation on a local basis in each region / country / state where we work and we’ll adjust the dates by country as needed, ”confirmed a Microsoft spokesman to The Verge.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22388422/rXHFyu8.png)
Microsoft Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene explained the decision to postpone the full reopening in an email to the team obtained by Business Insider: “We believe that this date will provide additional flexibility for employees to make summer plans, and we will continue to keep you updated if the date goes out.” In addition, the e-mail informs that Microsoft will give regional office leaders leeway to further delay that date, depending on health and safety conditions in their local area.
The company has already started to reopen in a limited capacity. In early March, the company noted that around 20 percent of its staff worldwide was back in the office, and it began to slowly reopen its headquarters in Redmond and Seattle, Washington, on March 29.
That said, the move to a more remote workplace at Microsoft, caused by the pandemic COVID-19, appears to be a permanent change in the company’s culture. In the future, she plans to make the option of working from home for up to 50% of the standard week for most positions, with the option of discussing more substantial changes to remote work with managers.
“The COVID-19 pandemic challenged all of us to think, live and work in new ways,” said Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s chief of staff, explained in a note last October. “We will offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual work styles, while balancing business needs and ensuring that we live our culture.”