US Microsoft Indefinitely Delays Office Return

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Microsoft (MS) in the United States has indefinitely postponed the return to office in the U.S. due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 9th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that MS decided to indefinitely delay the reopening date for office attendance in the U.S., including its headquarters in Washington state.

MS had originally planned to normalize office attendance in July but postponed the date several times to this month and then to the 4th of next month.

Jared Spataro, MS Vice President, said in a blog post that day, "Considering the uncertainties of COVID-19, including the spread of the Delta variant, we have decided not to set a fixed date for resuming office attendance in the U.S."

Vice President Spataro stated that they will resume office attendance immediately once it is safe to open offices based on health guidelines.

MS's decision came as major U.S. companies, including Silicon Valley big tech firms, have been postponing their return to office following the spread of the Delta variant.

Meanwhile, among U.S. big tech companies, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple, in addition to MS, have announced that they will delay their return to office until early next year.

Earlier, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, announced in a blog post that the return to office date would be postponed to January 10 next year.

CEO Pichai said, "This decision will give employees more flexibility," and added, "Even after January 10 next year, employees will be allowed to decide their own return-to-office dates."