Facebook to postpone return to U.S. offices

Facebook said Thursday it will push its date for returning to the office back to January for workers in the U.S., as the delta variant continues to spike coronavirus case counts locally and across the country.

“Data, not dates, is what drives our approach for returning to the office,” Facebook spokesperson Chloe Meyere said in an emailed statement. She added the company expected the change to go for employees in countries outside the U.S. as well.

When asked how the change would affect contract workers like shuttle drivers and food service workers, Meyere said, “We’re still working through many of the details, as our policies will greatly depend on local health and safety data, and local guidelines.”

She added the company is continuing to pay its contingent workers whether they can work from home or not.

The company joins a host of other locally headquartered tech companies, including Uber, Lyft and Roblox, that have delayed their return to the office, some until next year.

Over the summer Facebook expanded its remote work offerings for employees, saying anyone whose job can be done outside of the office can request to make the change permanent.

The social media giant’s Bay Area offices are open at 10% capacity, and earlier this month the company said it would require all employees working in its U.S. offices to wear masks.

That was a reversal of an earlier announcement that allowed vaccinated workers to take them off when going in to

work.

Late last month, the company required proof of vaccination to go back to its U.S. offices in person, following Google and other companies that are increasingly cautious about in-person work as the delta variant drives up infections.

Facebook began reopening its offices in May.