Full-time employees of the social media company Facebook can telecommute for at least another six months if their job allows it. This was announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who announced that he would also work from home.
“I’ve found that working remotely has given me more room for long-term thinking and helped me spend more time with my family, which has made me happier and more productive at work,” Zuckerberg said in a memo. ‘Over the past year, we have learned that good work can be done anywhere. I am convinced that teleworking is possible on a large scale, especially because the possibilities with video and virtual reality are increasing.’
With that decision, the company makes a 180-degree turn. In May 2020, it announced that only certain employees, especially experienced employees, would be allowed to telecommute.
His new memo shows that certain employees will have to come to the office. This includes people who work on hardware or in data centres.
Zuckerberg also added that the company would allow employees to request telecommuting across international borders. This means, among other things, that US workers in Canada can work remotely and workers in Europe can work remotely in the UK.
Facebook reportedly plans to reopen most of its US offices at 50 percent capacity in early September and is likely to reopen fully in October. The company employs approximately 60,000 people.