Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft Corp., speaks during the Microsoft Developers Build Conference in Seattle, Washington, USA, on Monday, May 7, 2018. The Build conference, which marks its second consecutive year in Seattle, is scheduled to take place. emphasis on the company’s cloud technologies and the artificial intelligence features of these services. Photographer: Grant Hindsley / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Grant Hindsley | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Microsoft said Thursday it will indefinitely delay the reopening of its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and its other U.S. offices as the coronavirus continues to proliferate in the country. The software and hardware maker did not provide a new date to replace the October 4 target it had announced in early August.
The decision, which will affect more than 103,000 Microsoft employees in the United States, reflects the prudent approach taken by large technology companies to return employees to facilities after an increase in hospitalizations and Covid-related deaths.
In August, with cases where the delta variant of the virus increases, Amazon said corporate workers in the United States and other countries will begin returning to offices in January 2022. At the time, Microsoft said it had withdrawn the its reopening plan from Sept. 7 to Oct. 4. Now Microsoft is less specific.
“Given the uncertainty of Covid-19, we have decided not to attempt to anticipate a new date for a full reopening of our jobs in the United States in favor of opening jobs in the United States as soon as we can. safe based on public health guidance, “wrote Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s corporate vice president, in a blog post.
Once the company is ready to welcome employees, it will announce a one-month transition period for workers to prepare, Spataro wrote.
Facebook and Google went on to say Amazon would allow workers to return to U.S. offices by 2022, meaning many employees will have worked remotely for nearly two years.
Like Facebook and Google, Microsoft offers software that companies can rely on to hold virtual meetings. Microsoft wants to make sure its Teams communication app works well for people in remote environments and on Thursday the company announced improvements. Beginning in 2022, teams will be able to inform meeting speakers when they interrupt coworkers, and the camera flow from a speaker during a team meeting will be visible next to a PowerPoint presentation.
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