Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is allowing its employees to work from home up to until July 2021. The social media giant becomes the latest tech to extend its work from home policy that many companies implement to curb the spread of the COVID-19. Google also recently announced that its employees will voluntarily work from home until July next year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made physical contact impossible, and experts predict that it may change the working culture forever. Governments have also put in place restrictive measures to curb the spread of the disease. These include lockdowns and restrictive movements; all that have had a great impact on how people work.
“Based on guidance from health and government experts, as well as decisions drawn from our internal discussions about these matters, we are allowing employees to continue voluntarily working from home until July 2021,” said Nneka Norville, a Facebook spokesperson.
Zuckerberg has been pitching the idea of remote working
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been pitching the idea of remote working and recently indicated that up to 50% of the company’s employees work from home. It is a major shift among the world’s leading techs supporting remote working even after the pandemic.
Zuckerberg has been pitching the idea of working from home to satisfy employee desires and spread its economic gains to a broader area. He noted that the company will increase its remote hiring with early focus on advanced engineering positions. Zuckerberg said entry-level hires may not be eligible for remote working for a start.
To roll out its work from home policy in the long run, Facebook says it will start hiring from areas that are close to its offices in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Portland.
Google to allow its employees to work from home until July 2021
Google also announced that it will allow its employees to work from home until July 2021 to curb the spread of COVID-19. The company had initially allowed its employees to work from home up to the end of 2020. The decision to extend is an indication that the world’s biggest tech is bracing itself for the long pandemic.
