Facebook says employees can work from home until July 2021
The social network is also giving workers an extra $1,000 for home office needs.
Facebook said Thursday that its employees will be able to continue working from home until July 2021, a move that comes after other tech companies, including Google and Uber, push back plans to reopen their offices as coronavirus cases surge.
A Facebook spokeswoman said the company made the decision "based on guidance from health and government experts" and "internal discussions." The social media giant is also giving employees an extra $1,000 for home office needs.
Facebook said in May that employees who can take care of their work remotely will be able to do so through the end of 2020. The company has also said that some employees would be able to work from home permanently if they meet certain criteria that involve their experience level and work performance.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also said that the return to Facebook's offices would have to be done in a "staggered way." Employees who couldn't work remotely, such as content reviewers who work on counterterrorism efforts or suicide and self-harm prevention, as well as certain engineers, might be able to return sooner to the office, he said.
A Facebook spokeswoman said the company will continue to reopen offices with restrictions based on government guidance, and where there's been virus mitigation for about two months. It's unlikely, she said, that Facebook's offices will open in many locations before the end of the year because of the surge in coronavirus cases.
As of June 30, Facebook had 52,534 workers worldwide.