Due to the evolving Delta variant of COVID-19, Microsoft has once again changed its plans regarding the full reopening of its Redmond campus and other worksites in the US. Today, the company announced that it’s no longer considering October 4 as the first possible date for a full return to the office, and the company isn’t ready to communicate a new date at this point.
“Given the uncertainty of COVID-19, we’ve decided against attempting to forecast a new date for a full reopening of our U.S. work sites in favor of opening U.S. work sites as soon as we’re able to do so safely based on public health guidance. From there, we’ll communicate a 30-day transition period that provides time for employees to prepare while allowing us to continue to be agile and flexible as we look to the data and make choices to protect employee health, safety and well-being,” said Jared Spataro, CVP for Modern Work at Microsoft.
The Redmond giant isn’t the only big tech company having to adapt to the consequences of rising COVID-19 cases due to the new Delta variant. Apple has also delayed the return of its employees to the company’s offices until January 2022 at the earliest, and Amazon did the same thing. If these plans may well change again, Microsoft and LinkedIn also announced today new product updates to help organizations adapt to this hybrid work reality.
