Facebook Delays Office Return Until January 2022

Facebook has become the latest tech firm to announce it will delay US and some international staff from returning to the office until the new year.

Last week Amazon had confirmed it was delaying the return of its office workers until 3 January 2022. Ride-hailing firm Lyft said its corporate staff will only return to the office on 2 February 2022.

The two firms had cited the surge in Covid-19 cases in the United States and elsewhere, because of the Delta variant, for pushing back the office return date until the new year.

Facebook delay

Now Facebook has scrapped its plans to reopen its offices by October, despite it saying earlier this month that it would require all its US staff returning to the office or campus, to wear a mask, regardless of their vaccine status.

Both Google and Facebook had also previously said they would require staff returning to the office or campus to be fully vaccinated when they return to the office in October.

But now Facebook has confirmed it will delay opening its offices and campus until 2022, in a statement to Bloomberg.

“Data, not dates, is what drives our approach for returning to the office,” the company reportedly said in a statement. “Given the recent health data showing rising Covid cases based on the delta variant, our teams in the US will not be required to go back to the office until January 2022.”

“We expect this to be the case for some countries outside of the US, as well,” it added. “We continue to monitor the situation and work with experts to ensure our return to office plans prioritise everyone’s safety.”

Remote working

Facebook has a more relaxed policy to its staff working from home, than say Apple for example.

Back in May 2020 CEO Mark Zuckerberg predicted that 50 percent of the company’s employees could be working remotely over the next decade.

Facebook also allows its staff to work remotely full time and relocate, but those employees may have their compensation adjusted based on their new locations.

This gives some staff the option to relocate to US states where the cost of housing is more reasonable than it is in California.

Google this week also announced that it may also cut the salaries of its staff who opt to work from home indefinitely after office restrictions ease.