Microsoft to allow employees to work from home permanently

The software giant has allowed its employees to work from home permanently if they choose.

Microsoft said some positions would continue to require staff to be present in person, such as those requiring access to hardware labs, data centres or in-person training. Hence, employees in roles and businesses, which are better suited for working away from the office, would be able to work from home or anywhere but the office for up to 50 per cent of their working week.

"For others, whose work can be done entirely remote, there are options to relocate â€" even internationally â€" if approved. They won't be eligible for Microsofts work from home policy.

Microsoft has moved to give most of its workforce more flexibility in how it works, releasing new guidance aimed at accommodating remote work trends on an ongoing basis. The company had in May announced that "if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen".

Work hours (the hours and days when employees work, e.g. workday start and end times, full- or part-time): Work schedule flexibility is now considered standard for most roles. The company originally made it a choice before mandating remote work as the pandemic worsened. However, a lot depends on the role of employee and not everyone will be able to take the work from home forever.

As the coronavirus pandemic sent millions of Americans indoors in March, and working remotely became the norm for many companies, some tech giants have chose to make working remotely a permanent part of their workplace.

The shift follows the decision of tech giants rivals like Facebook and Twitter.

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In response to a request for comment from CRN on Friday, Microsoft confirmed there are new guidelines in place around remote work at Microsoft.

'Employees who work in a role that can effectively be done from home are welcome to do so until January 8th.

"Moving forward, it is our goal to offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual workstyles, while balancing business needs and ensuring we live our culture", said Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft's chief people officer, in a blog post. We can keep sources anonymous.

As The Verge reports, employees will have the option to work remotely for less than 50 percent of their normal work week.

The employees were asked to return its new Silicon Valley campus, which cost billions of dollars to build, because of hardware-development processes required them to work from the office, according to Bloomberg.

In a bid to address it, the company launched the "virtual commute" to aid employees transition from work to home life.