In August, it was reported that Microsoft was planning to mandate its workers again to the workplace “no less than” three days per week starting in 2026. (Staff at the moment can work remotely “half” of the workweek.) Now, in keeping with an inside electronic mail despatched to Microsoft employees on Tuesday, the corporate has finalized its plans and is issuing a return-to-office (RTO) mandate in three phases, beginning in February 2026, in keeping with Enterprise Insider.
CEO Satya Nadella defined why at an all-employee city corridor on Thursday, the outlet studies. Nadella famous that one “unintended consequence” of distant work was shedding the social ties which can be “needed for innovation.”
Associated: Amazon Tells 1000’s of Staff to Relocate or Resign
“Weak ties, you already know, develop into weaker, stronger ties develop into stronger, and new ties are powerful to type, proper? That is it,” Nadella mentioned on the occasion, in keeping with inside feedback reviewed by Enterprise Insider. “When you consider it as a easy community downside, that was the conclusion.”
When asserting the brand new RTO coverage on Tuesday, Microsoft HR chief Amy Coleman despatched an electronic mail to workers that mentioned the primary part of RTO will give attention to staff who dwell within the Puget Sound, Washington space, and can start round February 23.
Satya Nadella, chief govt officer of Microsoft Corp., departs following a gathering of the White Home Job Power on AI Schooling within the East Room of the White Home in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. Eric Lee/Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
“Within the AI period, we’re transferring sooner than ever, constructing world-class expertise that modifications how folks dwell and work, and the way organizations in all places function,” the e-mail reads. “When you replicate on our historical past, probably the most significant breakthroughs occur once we construct on one another’s concepts collectively, in actual time.”
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As of June 30, Microsoft employed 228,000 staff, with 125,000 situated within the U.S.
The RTO mandate will then increase to different workplaces within the U.S., and, finally, internationally. Planning will start in 2026, in keeping with the e-mail.
On the city corridor, Coleman mentioned that the choice for RTO was made after analyzing inside knowledge that discovered workers “thrive” extra once they spend no less than three days per week within the workplace.
“We have checked out how our groups work finest, and the information is obvious: when folks work collectively in individual extra usually, they thrive—they’re extra energized, empowered, and so they ship stronger outcomes,” Coleman mentioned.
Associated: Microsoft’s CEO Says the Firm’s Mass Layoffs, Regardless of Monetary Success, Are ‘Weighing Closely on Me’ in an Inside Memo
In August, it was reported that Microsoft was planning to mandate its workers again to the workplace “no less than” three days per week starting in 2026. (Staff at the moment can work remotely “half” of the workweek.) Now, in keeping with an inside electronic mail despatched to Microsoft employees on Tuesday, the corporate has finalized its plans and is issuing a return-to-office (RTO) mandate in three phases, beginning in February 2026, in keeping with Enterprise Insider.
CEO Satya Nadella defined why at an all-employee city corridor on Thursday, the outlet studies. Nadella famous that one “unintended consequence” of distant work was shedding the social ties which can be “needed for innovation.”
Associated: Amazon Tells 1000’s of Staff to Relocate or Resign
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