Like so many other technological companies after pandemic, Microsoft He encouraged his employees to continue working from home. To do this, it launched a work system that made the company officially in what from Redmond described as “company with hybrid work”, in which also those responsible for groups could approve the permanent remote work of its employees.
But the situation seems to change very soon, following the wake of most great technology in recent months, with a New policy back to the office in the company. It is not yet known if Microsoft wants its employees to return to their facilities every day, or do the majority. Nor if all departments and employees will be affected equally by the measure of the return to the office they are preparing, which according to The Verge, can be announced towards the middle of next September to be effective throughout January 2026.
The rumors of this new policy back to the office began to emerge a few weeks ago internally, which has led to the appearance of all kinds of speculation between the workforce. For now, the company has only informed them that they are working on some standards, which will announce them in the coming weeks. If this new policy returning to the office can lead to resignations and departures from the company, and probably Microsoft also hopes to lighten its workforce even more.
Apparently, Microsoft wants employees to spend a minimum of three days a week in the office in case they live less than 50 miles (just under 81 kilometers) from the company’s Redmond campus. Some teams may receive messages of mandatory presence in the office four or even five days per week, depending on what the executive vice presidents of each area decide. Employees are likely to request exceptions to new standards.
At present, more than half of the 228,000 Microsoft employees live and work in the United States. Most of the around 125,000 workers that the company has on American soil, are based on the Redmond campus located on the outskirts of Seattle, so this new policy of face -to -face will affect many of them.
Microsoft has already been pointing out that its employees who spend three or four days in the office have higher scores in a tool they have developed and measures the well -being of their workers, Thrive global. The company is progressively integrating it into Teams and uses it to know how employees feel through questionnaires.
These, in relation to the possible policy back to the office that will be implemented in the company, have divided opinions. Some are worried about it, especially for the time they will lose to come and go to the office. Others believe that the company may not have enough space for everyone to return at the same time, despite the fact that those of Redmond have invested several billions in the expansion of their headquarters.
Microsoft has left several spaces in recent years, such as a 27 -storey building in downtown Bellevue, as well as two other offices and the Advanta campus. It has also abandoned Redmond offices space to reduce costs associated with spaces that were no longer used in a regular basis.
Currently, The Microsoft Central Campus has 17 new buildings, which replace 12 of the oldand that have space for 8,000 more employees than those who used this dozen facilities. There are currently seven that are already open, and the rest are closed or still under construction. It is not clear when Microsoft will complete the renewal of its headquarters, and there is still no date for the end of its construction.
Other employees, however, are happy with the policy back to the office, since they have been working in half empty offices with other deserted facilities. But in general, For many it is a kind of undercover dismissal policywhich would follow at the 15,000 exits that have recently occurred in the company.
