Microsoft, the third largest employer in Washington, reportedly has no plans to call its employees back to the office five days per week.
The company’s commitment to a flexible work policy, which was first reported by Business Insider, is somewhat surprising considering it’s nearly six years into a $5 billion campus expansion in Redmond. It’s the largest construction project in the Seattle area.
The expansion, which includes 17 new buildings, was originally expected to be completed by mid-2025, but delays have pushed that timeline back.
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While construction continues at the Redmond campus, Microsoft has shed more than 2.7 million square feet of office space in Bellevue. As of July, Microsoft was the second-largest office occupier in the region with nearly 11 million square feet.
Notably, the region’s largest office occupier, Amazon, will require its employees in the office five days a week starting next year.
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Business Insider reported that Microsoft told employees at an all-hands meeting that the tech giant would not be changing its remote-work policy, unless productivity dwindles. A Microsoft spokesperson did not respond to the Business Journal on Tuesday.
Microsoft’s current in-office policy allows employees to work up to half the time from home, fully remote or fully onsite. Those requirements vary by position as outlined in online postings.
Amazon’s headquarters in South Lake Union are fully open and ready for workers. It also opened two new offices, dubbed Sonic and Dynamo, earlier this year, and its 43-story tower Bellevue 600 is set to be delivered in early 2025, according to a recent Colliers report.
Several real estate brokerages expect other companies in the Seattle area to follow Amazon’s lead on in-office work, though some employers were trending that way before Amazon’s policy announcement on Sept. 16.
Brian Niccol, the new CEO of Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq: SBUX), reportedly told employees on Sept. 10 that they should “be together as much as possible,” but did not announce any new in-person mandates.