A Facebook spokesperson stated that the tech giant would let some of its employees work from home through the end of this year because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
There has not been an official announcement from the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, but a formal announcement is expected sometime soon.
The Internet Protocol
Last month, Facebook CEO stated:
We know that most people can't work from home as easily as many of our employees can. We also know that when society does eventually start re-opening, it will have to open slowly in staggered waves to make sure that the people who are returning to work can do so safely and that we minimize the possibility of future outbreaks.
He also mentioned that “we don't expect to have everyone back in our offices for some time.”
Facebook will begin to re-open most of the company’s offices on July 6, thus giving employees who need to work at the office an opportunity to do so. However, those who feel like they can go on with their working processes at home will be able to carry on with remote work for the rest of the year.
In fact, Facebook was among the first companies to encourage their employees to work from home beginning March in order to minimize the spread of the coronavirus infection. To support its employees, the company provided them with $1,000 bonuses to help cover unexpected expenses.
The Internet Protocol
The company hasn’t decided yet which employees will be asked to get back to offices once they re-open. To make this decision, Facebook considered several factors, including "public health data, government guidance and local nuances."
The company is also canceling large earlier planned in-person events with more than 50 people up until June 2021 to make sure the pandemic does not continue to spread. Apart from that, Facebook already canceled the F8 Conference at the end of February because of the coronavirus outbreak, as well as the Global Marketing Summit the same month.
The tech giant’s decision to allow its employees to work remotely if they don’t feel uncomfortable getting back to the offices is kind of a hint for other large corporations on how to re-open their offices this year as well.
