Microsoft to permanently allow employees to work from home even after pandemic

Microsoft will permanently allow employees to work from home. The company’s internal guidance outlines the ‘hybrid workplace’ model, offering insights into Microsoft’s flexible working plans for the future. As the majority of Microsoft employees continue to work from home, the company is considering a major cultural shift.

Microsoft internally circulates new guidance

“We recognize that some employees are required to be onsite and some roles and businesses are better suited for working away from the worksite than others. However, for most roles, we view working from home part of the time (less than 50%) as now standard – assuming manager and team alignment,” said Kathleen Hogan, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Microsoft.

Over the past few months, Microsoft employees have transitioned to the work-from-home arrangements in the wake of the pandemic. During this period, the company learned extensively about “productivity, flexibility, resilience, and compassion.”

Employees have to bear the additional responsibilities of managing safety precautions, learning to connect with teams while presenting to a screen, and most importantly, achieving the work-life balance, the company has acknowledged.

Microsoft has provided its employees with some guidance on its thinking about work flexibility for the future.

“Moving forward, it is our goal to offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual workstyles, while balancing business needs and ensuring we live our culture,” Hogan added.

Microsoft wants employees to make informed decisions that could result in changes to their worksite, work location, and in some cases, work hours. These policies will broadly come into effect only after offices are open without any Covid-19 restrictions.

Microsoft guidance considers the following aspects:

1. Work site (the physical space where you work, e.g. office, center, home, mobile)
2. Work hours (the hours and days when employees work, e.g. workday start and end times, full- or part-time)
3. Work location (the geographic location where you work, e.g. city and country)

Recently, Microsoft released its Work Trend Index Report. According to this report, excessive work-from-home arrangements are causing an increase in emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion among Indians.