When These Big Companies Are Planning To Return To the Office
When the pandemic started and major companies abruptly transitioned to a remote workforce, there was no way to anticipate just how long this new working reality would last.
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Many companies that initially planned to return to the office in late 2020 or early 2021 have pushed those plans back even further, with some companies announcing that they would allow their employees to continue to work remotely indefinitely.
Last updated: Jan. 15, 2021
Alphabet
In an email sent to staff in mid-December of last year, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, announced a planned return to the office in September 2021, The New York Times reported. He also said that the company was testing the idea of a “flexible workweek” once it is safe to return to the office that would allow employees to work from home twice a week.
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Amazon
Amazon hasn’t changed its planned return to office date since last October when a company spokesperson told CNBC that they expected employees to return to the office in July.
“We continue to prioritize the health of our employees and follow local government guidance,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. “Employees with work that can effectively be done from home can continue to do that work from home through June 30, 2021.”
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Apple
During a virtual town hall meeting held in December 2020, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that it “seems likely” that the majority of teams won’t be back in the office before June 2021, Bloomberg reported. Although Cook stated that there could be more opportunities for remote work going forward, he emphasized the importance of continuing to be an office-centric company.
“There’s no replacement for face-to-face collaboration, but we have also learned a great deal about how we can get our work done outside of the office without sacrificing productivity or results,” he said, according to Bloomberg. “All of these learnings are important. When we’re on the other side of this pandemic, we will preserve everything that is great about Apple while incorporating the best of our transformations this year.”
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A company spokesperson told The Verge that Facebook employees would have the option to continue to work remotely until at least July 2021.
“Our U.S. offices remain closed and we don’t expect them to open before the COVID-19 vaccines are widely available,” the spokesperson said.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously told The Verge that within the next five to 10 years, he believed that about half the company would be working remotely permanently.
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Microsoft
Microsoft was originally planning to return to offices in January 2021, but last October, the company announced it was pushing its expected return date to July, Fox Business reported. In addition, Microsoft announced plans to transition to a “flexible workplace” even after the pandemic is over.
“For most roles, we view working from home part of the time (less than 50%) as now standard,” Kathleen Hogan, executive vice president and chief people officer at Microsoft wrote in a company blog post.
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