Microsoft hasn’t chased Amazon back to the office. It’s even cutting back on office space
Last month, Amazon updated its return-to-office mandate by telling employees it expects them to work in person all five days of the workweek starting in January.
Its tech peer Microsoft took an opposite stance last week. Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Microsoft’s cloud and AI division, told employees during an all-hands meeting that its remote work friendly policy wouldn’t change unless productivity wanes.
Guthrie didn’t give many specifics on how productivity among employees could falter, according to a report in Business Insider confirmed by The Seattle Times, and Microsoft’s recent performance shows a decline probably isn’t in the foreseeable future. The company reported a record $245 billion in revenue June for its fiscal 2024, with $88 billion in profit, according to regulatory filings.
Microsoft hasn’t had to deal with the strong reaction over in-person mandates that Amazon has, but as it continues to tweak the offices it’s running to address the quirks of hybrid work. And unlike Amazon, Microsoft has benefited from the rise of hybrid and remote work with products devoted to it like Teams.
