Microsoft Employees to Work Permanently From Home

Microsoft allows some of its employees to work permanently from home. 

While the vast majority of Microsoft employees work from home during current epidemics, the software maker has issued a “hybrid workplace” guideline locally as the US offices eventually reopen.

• Microsoft will cover the home office costs for permanent long-distance workers.
• It’s not just Microsoft that allows employees to operate permanently remotely.
• Zuckerberg said to The Verge that up to half of employees can work remotely in five to 10 years.
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The Verge has received internal guidelines from Microsoft and outlines the flexible future working plans of the company. 

Microsoft will now allow employees to work independently from home for less than 50 per cent of their workweek, or allow managers to recognize permanent distance work. 

Employees who opt for the permanent remote work option will give up their assigned office space, but there are still options to use the touchdown space available in Microsoft offices.

“The COVID-19 epidemic has challenged us all to think, live, and work in new ways,” said Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s CPO. “While balancing business needs and ensuring that we live our culture, we will provide as much flexibility as possible to support individual workplaces.”

While most employees can easily utilize less than 50 per cent of the work from home preferences, some roles are difficult, or even impossible, to switch to permanently over long distances.

Microsoft points to a few roles, including those that require access to hardware labs, data centres, and personal training, that are still required in the offices of the company. Employees will be allowed to relocate locally with consent or seek international travel if remote work is feasible for their specific role.

While staff from Microsoft will be allowed to travel throughout the country for remote work, compensation and benefits changes and varies according to the geopay scale of the company. 

Microsoft will cover the home office costs for permanent long-distance workers, but anyone who decides to leave Microsoft offices will have to cover their relocation costs. Flexible working hours are also available without manager approval, and employees can request part-time work through their managers.

Microsoft is moving to more flexible work, just months after the company announced to employees that its US offices will not be opening anytime soon until January 2021. 

Microsoft first allowed its employees to return home in March, before implementing a mandatory work from home policy, as the epidemic spread across Seattle and the United States.

It’s not just Microsoft that allows employees to operate permanently remotely. Facebook converts tens of thousands of jobs to remote work, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed to The Verge that up to half of employees can work remotely in five to 10 years.