This story is evolving, and updates will be posted as they become available.
In an update announced on 2021-09-09, Microsoft stated that it has removed its timetables for its employees returning to any office (at least in the US) for work.
“We had planned for Oct. 4 to be the first possible date to fully reopen Microsoft’s own Redmond headquarters, and many other work sites in the U.S.,” Microsoft corporate vice president Jared Spataro stated in Microsoft’s blog entry on the subject. “But we shared with our employees today [that] we’ve shifted those plans. Given the uncertainty of COVID-19, we’ve decided against attempting to forecast a new date for a full reopening of our U.S. work sites in favor of opening U.S. work sites as soon as we’re able to do so safely based on public health guidance.”
Like Apple, Microsoft had previously announced plans for getting everyone back in the office. They were originally planning for a July 2021 return and then decided to delay until September 2021 and then October 2021. Unfortunately, the onset of new COVID variants and a rise in infection and hospitalization rates, those plans have been continuously delayed… until today when they were permanently cancelled.
Instead of planning this out, Microsoft will ready their campuses and then provide a 30 day notice to employees so they may prepare for a return to the office.