After laying off thousands of employees across its global offices, Microsoft is now asking its employees to return to the office for at least three days a week. The company’s new hybrid work model aims to deviate from the fully remote arrangements that were initially introduced during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Microsoft’s Chief People Officer, Amy Coleman, has said that all employees residing in closer proximity to the Microsoft office will need to work onsite three days a week. The implementation will begin from February 2026 and will be applicable to all employees who reside within a 50-mile radius of the office in the Puget Sound area, which is home to its Redmond headquarters. These employees will be the first to transition to the new in-person schedule.
Microsoft changes work policy
The work-from-office mandate will begin with the Puget Sound office and will eventually transition to more regions and areas. “We’ll roll this out in three phases: 1) starting in Puget Sound at the end of February; 2) expanding to other US locations; 3) then launching outside the US,” said Coleman.
“If you are outside of the Puget Sound area, you do not need to take any action at this time unless your EVP communicates otherwise,” adds Coleman with reference to employees outside the affected area. That said, Microsoft says that over time, all its employees across the globe will adapt to a hybrid work policy.
This shift places Microsoft in line with a growing number of major tech companies pushing for a return to physical workspaces. Prior to this, Amazon had implemented a five-day-a-week in-office mandate in September 2024.
Microsoft believes that its employees working together tend to enhance productivity by a substantial degree. “We’ve looked at how our teams work best, and the data is clear: when people work together in person more often, they thrive — they are more energised, empowered, and they deliver stronger results. As we build the AI products that will define this era, we need the kind of energy and momentum that comes from smart people working side by side, solving challenging problems together,” says Microsoft.
Microsoft open to making exceptions, giving time to adapt
With a deadline of February 2026, Microsoft is giving its employees time to make necessary arrangements for the new workplace policy. The company is also open to considering exceptions for some employees from the hybrid work policy, all of which need to be filed by September 19.
While the timeline for other US employees will be announced at a later date, Microsoft has not yet finalised a plan for its international workforce. The company, which maintains a presence in India with over 20,000 employees across ten cities, anticipates that international employees will likely see a similar transition sometime in 2026.