Twitter allows employees to work from home 'forever'
What's the story
As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc around the world, Twitter is moving to let its employees work from home 'forever'. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of the company, recently announced the change, telling employees that they can continue to work remotely as long as they deem fit, even after the end of the ongoing crisis. Here's all about it.
Dorsey's email on new remote working strategy
In a recent email, Dorsey told employees that they could make their current work from home routine permanent if needed. The option, according to a report in BuzzFeed News, will be given to all employees, except those who are required to be physically present for their jobs, such as workers involved in server maintenance or those responsible for content moderation.
Confirmation
Twitter issued a statement confirming the change
Following Dorsey's email, Twitter issued a statement saying "if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen." "If not, our offices will be their warm and welcoming selves, with some additional precautions, when we feel it's safe to return," the company emphasized.
Re-opening
Offices will not open before September
That being said, those willing to come back to the office would have to wait it out at least until September, Dorsey said in the email. "When we do decide to open offices, it also won't be a snap back to the way it was before," Twitter added in its statement, noting that "it will be careful, intentional, office by office and gradual."
Order
Twitter mandated work from home back in March
Twitter started encouraging work from home as early as March 2 and went to mandate it on March 11. The company also says it was one of the first companies to switch to the remote working model, owing to its "emphasis on decentralization and supporting a distributed workforce capable of working from anywhere." Notably, Dorsey had indicated distributed working in the past too.
Other changes
Business travel suspended till September, events canceled
Among other things, Dorsey told employees that Twitter is suspending all business travel, with very few exceptions, until September and all in-person events until next year. The company is also working on some changes for 2021 and increasing the employee allowance to arrange supplies required to work from home, like desks, chairs, and lamps, to $1,000.