Facebook has no plans to get its employees to return to office before January 2022. Earlier, in June, the tech company had said it would prefer employees to be in office at least half the time, and had encouraged office visits for team building and bonding. It had also insisted that all its US employees be vaccinated before returning to office. However, now with fears of the delta variant of COVID-19 spreading rapidly, the multinational has delayed ‘return-to-office’ by about five months.
This decision is based on the data pertaining to COVID-related cases. The organisation will keep a watch on the number of cases and the situation across the US, and then decide on calling employees back to office. The Company is clear about employee safety being its priority.
Facebook is not the only company to delay return to office. Google, Twitter, Microsoft, Amazon and many others have delayed calling their employees back to office. Most companies in the US are mandating that employees produce proof of vaccination if they wish to return to office. Others have told employees who are unwilling to get vaccinated, to submit to weekly testing at the office.
Some offices have gone ahead and allowed employees to work from home forever. LinkedIn, for instance, is offering immense flexibility to its 16,000-strong workforce. Employees can choose to work remotely full time, or embrace a hybrid model, by coming in to office part time, whichever they wish.
