Remember that return-to-office mandate Microsoft announced last fall? It’s almost here.
Monday, Feb. 23 — yes, next week! — will mark the start of the company’s new policy requiring Puget Sound (a.k.a. Seattle-area) employees who live within 50 miles of a Microsoft office to show up at least three days a week, the company confirmed in response to GeekWire’s inquiry.
It’s a big shift for one of Big Tech’s last holdouts on flexible work. It’s also a potentially significant development for local traffic, given that there are more than 50,000 Microsoft employees in the Seattle region, at last count.
“Gird your loins and prepare for a potentially longer commute,” the Bellevue Chamber wrote in its newsletter, in an item titled, “Get Your Booty Back to Work: Microsoft’s Turn.”
The good news: Sound Transit’s Crosslake Connection is set to open March 28, finally linking Seattle and the Eastside by light rail across Lake Washington — connecting downtown Seattle to downtown Bellevue and the Redmond Technology station at Microsoft headquarters.
The Seattle-area rollout is the first phase, with other U.S. offices next and international locations later this year. The policy replaces Microsoft’s previous hybrid arrangement, which let most employees work remotely up to half the time without manager approval.
The company isn’t dictating from above which three days people will need to be in the office. Specifics are left to individual teams and managers. Some groups may require more than three days, and certain customer-facing roles like field sales and consultants are exempt.
The mandate brings Microsoft in line with Google and Facebook parent Meta, which have similar three-day requirements. Amazon, the region’s other tech giant, went further last year, requiring employees to be back in the office five days a week.
In her memo to employees last September, Microsoft EVP and Chief People Officer Amy Coleman said the change isn’t about cutting headcount. “It’s about working together in a way that enables us to meet our customers’ needs,” she wrote.
Still, the mandate could impact the workforce through attrition, consistent with what has happened at other companies that have implemented tighter RTO policies. The new policy comes after Microsoft cut more than 15,000 jobs globally last year.
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