Microsoft said that it no longer believes that early October is a realistic timetable for the full opening of its US offices, and will not predict a new date at this time.
This is the latest sign of the impact of the spread of COVID-19 Delta variants. The company had previously postponed the reopening time from September to no earlier than October 4.
“Given the uncertainty of COVID-19, we decided not to try to predict a new date for the full reopening of U.S. workplaces. Instead, in accordance with public health guidance, open U.S. workplaces as soon as we can safely reopen. ,” Microsoft is responsible Jared Spataro, vice president of Hyundai Jobs, said in a blog post on Thursday morning.
Spataro added that once the company has a new timetable, it will announce a 30-day transition period, “This provides employees with time to prepare, while allowing us to continue to be agile when looking at data and making choices to protect employees. And flexibility. Health, safety and well-being.”
This open approach with the promise of advance warning is similar to the strategy that Redfin and other companies are using.
Companies including Amazon and Expedia have postponed their return to the office until January 2022.
The announcement comes as Microsoft released new research on the impact of remote work on its employees, and announced new technologies designed to help other companies improve collaboration and communication between remote workers and mixed workplaces.