This Tuesday, Microsoft said that it will require employees to work from the office at least three days a week starting next year, in a blog post.
It appears that the Microsoft Corp. asked many employees to soon return to the office for three days a week.
Microsoft Ordered Employees To Return To Office For Three Days A Week
Moving ahead, the company’s Chief People Officer, Amy Coleman, wrote, “the most meaningful breakthroughs happen when we build on each other’s ideas together, in real time,” in a memo Tuesday.
The requirement seems specific as it will start for workers in the Seattle area who live within 50 miles (80 km) of an office at the end of February.
But soon, the technology major is planning to expand this to the rest of the US and launch internationally, Amy Coleman mentioned.
This is not new as several of Microsoft’s peers in the technology industry are already pushing their employees to come in-person for work.
For instance, Amazon.com Inc., has already ordered employees to report to the office five days a week.
Not About Reducing Headcount
A latest report from real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc indicates that more than half of Fortune 100 employees in traditional desk jobs are fully back in the office now.
While talking about the firing, Coleman wrote that the change is “not about reducing headcount.”
Earlier, Microsoft has fired some 15,000 workers as it grapples with the high costs of developing and offering artificial intelligence products.
Further, she said that the data showed employees working together in-person were more successful.
“As we build the AI products that will define this era, we need the kind of energy and momentum that comes from smart people working side by side,” Coleman wrote.
The company will be rolling out this policy in three phases, starting with employees near the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, followed by other U.S. locations and international employees, Microsoft’s chief people officer Amy Coleman wrote in the blog.
Prior to this, the IT companies had moved to a work-from-home setup since the pandemic owing to safety concerns.
But it changed after the pandemic as some tech firms, including Amazon, have begun to roll back those policies and now mandate workers to return to offices.
The blog clearly mentioned that the employees living within 50 miles of Microsoft’s head office will be expected to work onsite three days a week by the end of February 2026.
Adding, the timelines and details for additional U.S. office locations would be announced soon while planning for employees outside the U.S. would begin next year.
