Some of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley, California are delaying the return of their employees to office as the omicron surge continues to spread throughout the nation. Apple and Google have not mentioned a specific date of return but on Monday, Meta (Facebook) said that employees should return to work in office by March 28, after taking booster shots of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook said that they had pushed back the return-to-office date in order to give the company’s employees more flexibility as the pandemic was lingering.
The Menlo Park based social media giant had decided to open its offices for fully vaccinated employees on January 31. However, they have deferred the date to March 28 and have said that a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine would also be required for employees who wished to return to office. It is one of the first large employers to ask for booster shots.
Meta has also said that it would consider a deferral if employees requested for one. They had to request for it by mid March, to continue to work remotely. Meta said that the deferrals could last for a period between three and five months.
In December, Cupertino based Apple Inc. told its employees that it has not fixed a firm date for employees to return to office. Earlier, it had planned for a February 1 return-to-office date for most of its employees.
Earlier in December, Google announced that it did not expect its staff to return to work in office. Employees had been expected to start working in office by January 10. Google had also told employees in other continents and countries including Europe, Africa and the Middle East that it would also postpone return-to-office plans for its employees working in these continents and countries.
