Companies Target the Second Half to Return to the Office

Some tech companies are signaling that the office will remain a central cog in their businesses.

In a recent memo to employees, Amazon said that it expected employees to start coming back in as early as the summer. By the fall, it anticipates most of its staff to be in the office, according to CNBC.

About 10% of Amazon’s corporate population “currently works from an office each day,” according to the memo, in which Amazon also said that it expects a gradual return-to-work process to be gradual. 

Separately, CNBC also reported that Google is accelerating reopening in some areas of the US. Additionally, it does not appear to be taking a laissez-faire approach to permanent WFH. According to an internal memo seen by CNBC, employees have to apply to work remotely for more than 14 days per year. 

The company has targeted a September return when employees will need to show up three days a week. This is more the exception than the rule among the giant tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter, which are allowing remote work indefinitely.

More broadly, human resources leaders are eyeing office reopening later in the year, according to a new poll by Gartner.

Of the 258 sampled in the Gartner poll, 45% expect their workplace to reopen in 3Q21. Almost one-quarter (24%) more are planning for their workplace to reopen in 4Q21.

“Given the uncertainty that will exist around vaccination status, most organizations that reopen will do so with social distancing and mask wearing in place,” said Brian Kropp, chief of research for the Gartner HR practice, said in a prepared statement. “Regardless of reopening plans, only 1% of the HR leaders we surveyed expect all of their employees to work full-time in the office.”

Out of 241 HR leaders, 59% said their organization will let employees work remotely occasionally with approval from their manager, according to Gartner. That was a 21-percentage point increase since November 2020. 

Almost half of the HR leaders in the Gartner Workplace Reopening Amid Vaccine Rollout Webinar Poll, 49%, will let employees work remotely on certain days. Nearly one-third (32%) of respondents will let employees work remotely all of the time.  

“When offices reopen, many individuals will have been working from home for nearly two years or more and new ways of working will be ingrained,” Kropp said. “It will be critical for employers to focus on building social and emotional connections with, and between, their employees again.”