One of Big Tech’s last remaining RTO holdouts is officially sending employees back to the office.
Microsoft is mandating employees work from offices at least three days a week, according to an internal email the company sent to staff on Tuesday.
The mandate will happen in three phases, beginning at the end of February 2026, with Seattle-area employees who live within 50 miles of a Microsoft office. It will then expand to other US offices and eventually internationally, according to the email from Microsoft HR chief Amy Coleman. February 23 was one of the start dates Microsoft considered, but it hasn’t been decided yet.
Employees can request an exception by September 19. Coleman’s email didn’t include details about how such exceptions may work.
Business Insider reported in August that Microsoft was considering a stricter RTO policy mandating three days a week in the office.
Microsoft sells software that enables remote work, such as its popular Teams workplace chat and meeting app. It remained relatively lax compared to some other Big Tech companies when it comes to RTO, especially cross-town rival Amazon. Even Zoom sent its employees back to the office part-time in 2023.
Microsoft first introduced a flexible work policy when it brought employees back to the office in late 2020 after pandemic-forced closures. That policy officially allowed employees to work from home at least half of the time without approval, but in practice it was even more flexible and most employees worked remotely most of the time.
Now its policy is evolving to be similar to guidelines at Meta and Google, which generally require most employees to work in offices three days a week.
Microsoft’s new approach is the latest sign of the company increasing performance pressure on employees. It has fired thousands of employees deemed low performers this year and introduced a new performance improvement plan meant to exit low performers more quickly.
While working on the new RTO policy, Microsoft appears to have scrubbed a blog post that once heralded the benefits of remote work for retaining employees and boosting their productivity.
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“Hybrid work is more than a change in technology—it’s a change in mindset, a change in culture, and a change in the way you think about physical and virtual spaces to enable an inclusive and productive environment for all,” Microsoft wrote, according to a snapshot of the blog retained by the Internet Archive. “The change isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. If you make the time to do it right, your employees will be more engaged, more productive, and more connected, even when they’re miles away. And they’ll be far less likely to leave for a competitor who has a more sophisticated and flexible model than you do.”
The link to that blog post now redirects to one published on July 31 calling out how “hybrid work created new challenges for employee engagement” and how AI can solve them.
Read the full memo:
“How we work has forever changed. I remember starting at Microsoft in the late ’90s, always in the office, no laptops, and primarily working with the people right down the hall. As technology evolved and our business expanded, we became more open, more global, and able to scale in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Then the pandemic reshaped everything. It pushed us to think differently about work, to connect like never before (thank you Teams!), reminded us of how much we value being together, and gave us focus and autonomy in the traditional workday. We’re not going back, and we shouldn’t. Instead, we should take the best of what we’ve learned and move forward.
In the AI era, we are moving faster than ever, building world class technology that changes how people live and work, and how organizations everywhere operate. If you reflect on our history, the most meaningful breakthroughs happen when we build on each other’s ideas together, in real time.
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 energized, 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.
With that in mind, we’re updating our flexible work expectations to three days a week in the office.
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) and then launching outside the US.
Our goal with this change is to provide more clarity and consistency in how we come together, while maintaining the flexibility we know you value. We want you to continue to shape your schedule in ways that work best for you, making in-person time intentional and impactful. Importantly, this update is not about reducing headcount. It’s about working together in a way that enables us to meet our customers’ needs.
For some of you, this is not a change. For others this may be a bigger adjustment, which is exactly why we’re providing time to plan thoughtfully. As part of these updates, we’re also enhancing our workplace safety and security measures so we can continue to provide a workplace where every employee can do their best work.
What you need to know:
Puget Sound-area employees: If you live within 50 miles of a Microsoft office, you’ll be expected to work onsite three days a week by the end of February. You’ll receive a personalized email today with more details. Please connect with your manager and team to understand your organization’s plans. If needed, you can request an exception by Friday, September 19.
Managers: You’ll find actions to take, and the resources to support both you and your team on the Managers@Microsoft SharePoint.
All employees: You’ll hear from your EVP or organizational leadership today with specific guidance. Each business will do what is best for their team, which means some groups will deviate from our company-wide expectations. 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.
Timelines and details for additional US office locations will be announced soon. For employees outside the United States, we will begin planning in 2026. More information is available on the Flexible Work at Microsoft SharePoint.
As always, we’ll keep learning together to ensure Microsoft is the best place for you to grow and have a great career. Let’s keep moving forward together.
Thank you,
Amy”
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