Microsoft to Reopen Washington and Bay Area Offices Soon

As cases of coronavirus continue to ease, tech giant Microsoft will be opening up its offices again in Washington and the Bay area.

The company announced on Monday that it would re-open both offices this month starting on February 28th. The select offices will be open to employees, visitors and guests.

Microsoft has been operating under a phased return-to-work plan. The latest move is its sixth and final phase. The company says it anticipates reopening the rest of its U.S. offices as conditions allow.

The company had postponed its Oct. 4 return-to-office plans indefinitely in September, impacting more than 103,000 U.S. employees.

According to the city of Redmond, Washington’s website, Microsoft has over 47,000 people working at its headquarters there.

“For nearly two years, our hybrid workplace model has anchored each of our work sites to one of six defined stages, allowing us to quickly adjust our guidance depending on health data, local government guidance, the availability of vaccines and vaccination rates and other considerations,” Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela wrote in a blog post.

Microsoft also said Monday that it “embraces schedule flexibility as standard for most roles.”

Not all employees will have to return to the office. Employees can ask their managers to approve requests to adjust their work site, location or hours, the company said. Workers will have 30 days from Feb. 28 to make adjustments to their routines.

“We know there’s not a singular solution to how people work best,” Capossela said in the post.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.