Microsoft plans permanent WFH policy for some staff

It has released the new ‘hybrid workplace’ guidance that lays out how employees can have a more flexible remote work schedule and even relocate elsewhere in the country, while it continues to adjust to changing needs during the ongoing pandemic.

Microsoft will allow employees to work from home freely for less than 50 per cent of their working week, and managers will be able to approve permanent remote work.

“We will offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual work styles, while balancing business needs, and ensuring we live our culture,” Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s chief people officer, said in a blog post.

“To address this, we have provided guidance to employees to make informed decisions around scenarios that could include changes to their worksite, work location, and/or work hours once offices are open without any COVID-19 restrictions.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he is focused on three major considerations of how the nature of work is changing amid the pandemic: how collaboration happens, how learning happens inside companies and how to ensure employees aren’t burning out.

The company also said most employees’ work schedules were also flexible, meaning start and end times for workdays were no longer standard.