A new day, another new year return-to-office plan.
Facebook joined the growing list of companies that are pushing back the date on when employees are expected to start showing up in offices again. The tech giant joined Amazon and Expedia Group in announcing Thursday that January 2022 would be the new target.
“Data, not dates, is what drives our approach for returning to the office,” Facebook spokesperson Tracy Clayton said in an emailed statement. “Given the recent health data showing rising COVID cases based on the Delta variant, our teams in the U.S. will not be required to go back to the office until January 2022.”
Clayton said the new guidance is expected to be the case for some countries outside of the U.S. as well and that Facebook will continue monitor the situation.
The company requires anyone coming to work at any of its U.S. offices to be vaccinated has reinstated its mask requirement in all U.S. offices, regardless of an employee’s vaccination status.
Facebook employs more than 7,000 people in the Seattle area at large offices in the South Lake Union neighborhood and across Lake Washington in Bellevue. The company signed another office-space lease for a building in Bellevue’s Spring District in July.
In June, the company expanded its remote work program to all levels across the company, saying that anyone whose role can be done remotely can request remote work.
Earlier this month, Microsoft delayed its office return to the first week of October and said it would now require proof of vaccination for on-site work. Google is also requiring COVID-19 vaccines.
