Facebook requires masks in offices

Mandate for all U.S. employees, not just unvaccinated

Facebook employees across the U.S. will be required to wear masks when in the company’s offices regardless of vaccination status, the company said Monday. The requirement takes effect Tuesday.

“The health and safety of our employees and neighbors in the community remains our top priority. Given the rising numbers of COVID cases, the newest data on COVID variants, and an increasing number of local requirements, we are reinstating our mask requirement in all of Facebook’s U.S. offices, regardless of an employee’s vaccination status,” Facebook spokesperson Chloe Meyere said in an email.

Previously, vaccinated employees were able to take off their masks at work in the U.S. while unvaccinated workers had to remain masked. Meyere said the policy extended to company contractors as well, and that mask mandates have been in place on Facebook shuttles throughout the pandemic.

The change comes after the company announced a vaccine requirement last week for any employees who want to come into offices in the U.S.

Tech giant Google also created a vaccine requirement for inperson work last week and pushed out its return to office plan by a month last week.

A raft of other tech companies including Uber and Lyft also delayed return to office plans last week as the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread and spike case counts.

Twitter closed its San Francisco and New York offices two weeks after reopening amid the recent surge in cases.

On Monday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the city will announce that everybody, vaccinated or not, will be required to wear face masks indoors.

Meyere said in a phone call that the new masking policy will remain in effect until further notice and that Facebook’s “Return to office approach is based on local data, not dates.”