Facebook on Wednesday said that it’s expanding its remote work policy, opening up the option to anyone within the company whose work can be performed out of the office. The new policy kicks in on June 15.
For employees who will be returning to the office, Facebook expects them to be on site at least 50 percent of the time. The company is on track to open most of its US offices at 50 percent capacity by early September and will likely reopen them fully in October. It’s aiming to have its EMEA and APAC offices at 50 percent capacity near the end of 2021. Its plans for LATAM offices are less clear.
While it’s expanding the option to work remotely, that doesn’t necessarily equate to working from anywhere. Through the rest of 2021, during personal travel, Facebook employees can use a total of 20 business days to work from another location where they have work authorization.
Additionally, as of June 15, Facebook will support opportunities for employees working in the US to move to Canada, as well as opportunities for employees in EMEA to move from anywhere to the UK. In January 2022, employees will have the opportunity to permanently move between seven more countries in EMEA where Facebook has the highest employee demand and is able to operate.
Last year, when Facebook began adjusting its remote work options in response to the pandemic, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he expects about 50 percent of the company’s workforce to work remotely within the next five to 10 years.
The Covid-19 pandemic has compelled a number of major companies to embrace more flexible and remote work policies. Last month, after offering more opportunities to permanently work remotely, Google said it expects around 20 percent of its employees to work from home. Salesforce also rolled out plans to let employees work remotely on a permanent basis, as well as plans to revamp its iconic office towers. After Apple recently announced that employees will have to work from the office at least three days a week, a group of about 80 employees contributed to a letter complaining about the “one-size-fits-all policy.”