What you need to know
- Microsoft has published plans for reopening its Redmond campus.
- A partial reopening is expected to begin next week.
- A full reopening is tentatively planned for July 6.
Microsoft is planning to begin partially reopening its Redmond campus starting March 29, after instituting a mandatory 'work-from-home' policy to all company employees in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Seattle and surrounding areas. Globally, Microsoft has been working with government COVID guidelines to reopen offices, and it thinks that it's now ready to do the same in Redmond.
ZDNet asked Microsoft when it expects the company to fully reopen its Redmond offices, and the company said that it's hoping to fully reopen by July 6, assuming the current COVID-19 situation continues to improve. Even once the company fully reopens, a "hybrid work" ethic will still be encouraged.
Many Microsoft employees have been working from home for over a year. Microsoft's number one priority has been the well-being of its employees, and has been following health data closely to determine when the best time to reopen offices would be. Starting next week, it will begin to open its Puget Sound area offices.
Many companies across the globe are beginning to look at the safest ways to reintroduce their employees back to the office. With vaccines beginning to roll out, a "return to normal" looks like it's on the cards. While it's still too early to say the COVID-19 pandemic is in the rear-view mirror, for many people their work and home lives will return to normal throughout 2021 and into 2022.
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