Facebook allows employees to work from home till July 2021; gives $1000 for home offices

In light of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, Facebook Incorporation will allow its employees to work from home until July 2021 and will give them $1,000 for home office needs, the social media giant announced on Thursday.

The company joins other major IT firms that have taken similar steps recently, due to the outbreak. Last month, Google had said it would allow employees who do not need to be in the office to work from home till June 2021, while Twitter Incorporation had proposed remote work to some of its employees for an indefinite period.

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A Facebook spokeswoman said that the company decided to allow its employees to work from home voluntarily, based on guidance from health and government experts, and the decisions drawn from internal discussions. In addition, the company has decided to give the employees $1,000 for home office needs.

Facebook also said that the company will reopen offices in a restricted capacity in compliance with government guidance and where the virus has been mitigated for about two months. However, the company said it may not reopen offices in many locations in the United States and Latin America before 2021, due to the high number of COVID-19 cases.

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Google extends work from home

Google has decided that most of its 200,000 employees and contractors should work from home till at least June 2021. The remote-work order issued Monday by Google CEO Sundar Pichai also affects other companies owned by Google's corporate parent, Alphabet Inc. It marks a six-month extension of Google's previous plan to keep most of its offices closed through the rest of this year.

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In an email to employees.“I know this extended timeline may come with mixed emotions and I want to make sure you're taking care of yourselves," wrote Pichai, who is also Alphabet's CEO. Besides helping protect people from the virus, the new July 2021 target date for reopening Google's offices should make it easier for workers with children to adjust to schools that aren't allowing students to return to campus next month and in September. It will also make it easier for employees to sign one-year leases if they decide to rent a home somewhere else while working outside the office, Pichai added. Pichai's email noted that Google and Alphabet have been able to reopen some offices in 42 countries, although he didn't specify which.

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