US EditionMicrosoft Tells Workers to Prepare to Return to the Office
Microsoft's phased return-to-office plan starts with Seattle-area staff and aims to balance in-person collaboration with flexibility amid growing performance demands.
- On Tuesday, Microsoft announced employees who live within 50 miles of a Microsoft office in the Seattle-area must work onsite at least three days a week starting end of February 2026.
- Context: rising performance pressure and recent layoffs at Microsoft; Coleman said, `'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.'`
- Employees have until September 19 to request exemptions, and Microsoft has emailed those within 50 miles of a Microsoft office about new attendance expectations.
- The move aligns Microsoft with peers returning staff to offices as Coleman stressed the update is not about cutting headcount amid recent layoffs this year.
- After Puget Sound, Microsoft will expand the policy to other U.S. offices then internationally, with planning for outside the U.S. beginning next year; more than half of Fortune 100 workers are fully back onsite.
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