Facebook to embrace permanent remote work

Facebook will begin a process of “aggressively opening up remote work, said CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In a video message to employees, Zuckerberg outlined Facebook’s policy moving forward, and predicted that about half of its workforce will be working remotely within the next decade.

Promising a “measured approach” that will see Facebook recruit new hires for remote work outside its usual office hubs, and allowing existing employees to apply to work remotely, Zuckerberg said, “Our goal here is to enable many existing employees to become remote workers, if you want.”

Hiring more than 48,000 employees in 70 offices globally, Facebook also earlier announced that it plans to limit offices to 25% capacity, stagger employees on multiple shifts and institute mandatory temperature checks when some employees return to the workplace in July.

Zuckerberg also added that the salaries of remote workers will be adjusted accordingly, with those who work remotely from cities where the cost of living is lower can expected to be paid less.

Facebook’s announcement comes after Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s CEO, told employees earlier this month that they can choose to work from home “forever”.

“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.”

The same offer was later extended to employees of Square, a mobile payment company where Dorsey also serves as CEO.