Software giant Microsoft on Friday stated that it will let employees work from home permanently if they choose to do so, as per an AFP report. The technology giant is yet another company who has decided to expand provisions for work-from-home following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

American technology news website, the Verge, has stated that most Microsoft employees remain grounded at home as countries witness a second-wave of infection in the coronavirus pandemic. The company too doesn’t expect to reopen offices prior to January 2021.

Following the pandemic, the company has amended its policy and will allow workers to chose to work from their residences permanently. The policy, however, comes with a caveat, employees working from home will have to give up their office spaces.

Microsoft’s Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan said in a note to its employees, “The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged all of us to think, live and work in new ways.”

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She added, “We will offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual work styles while balancing business needs and ensuring we live our culture.”

AFP quoted the Microsoft spokesperson as saying, “Our goal is to evolve the way we work overtime with intention — guided by employee input, data and our commitment to support individual workstyles and business needs while living our culture.”

According to the report published by the Verge, employees will need the approval of their managers to work from home on a permanent basis. The report, however, says employees can spend less than 50% of their week outside the office without permission.

However, some employees cannot avail themselves the offer to work from home, employees who work in Microsoft labs or train other employees will continue to do so from the workspace.

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The company has also said that it would cover expenses for employees’ home offices, but it will not cover relocation expenses.

The Microsoft employs 163,000 people, 96,000 from the US as per its securities filings from June 2020.

Other tech firms who have opted for permanent work from home arrangements include Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has already said that half of the company’s staff could be permanently working remotely within the next five to ten years.