Microsoft headquarters to accommodate more employees

Employees who work at Redmond work sites or nearby campuses have the option to continue working remotely, return to those facilities, or do a mixture of both, the software giant noted in a blog post.

Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

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Microsoft said on Monday it would start accommodating more employees at its Redmond, Washington headquarters and nearby campuses from March 29.

Employees who work at Redmond work sites or nearby campuses have the option to continue working remotely, return to those facilities, or do a mixture of both, the software giant noted in a blog post.

“Our goal is to give employees further flexibility, allowing people to work where they feel most productive and comfortable, while also encouraging employees to work from home as the virus and related variants remain concerning,” the Redmond-based firm said.

The company noted that it has been monitoring local health data for months and has determined that the campus can safely accommodate more employees on-site while staying aligned to Washington state capacity limits.

In March last year, Microsoft had introduced a work-from-home (WFH) policy for its global work sites with over 1.6 lakh employees. Later, in October the company had said it will allow WFH for most employees for less than 50% of their weekly working hours when its work sites reopen.

Microsoft has also formed a group of researchers, engineers, and experts exploring various meeting configurations and technologies like multiple screens, cameras and mixed reality scenarios to understand the most effective, inclusive set-up for hybrid work, it noted.