Twitter says employees can work from home permanently after virus recedes

People walk past the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California. Dorsey told employees San Francisco-based Twitter was unlikely to open its offices before September, but that even when the company does so, most employees can work from wherever they want, according to a blog to be posted Tuesday. — AFP

Twitter Inc will let employees work from home permanently even after health authorities allow workers to return to their offices when the danger of the Covid-19 outbreak recedes.

Chief executive office Jack Dorsey told employees San Francisco-based Twitter was unlikely to open its offices before September, but that even when the company does so, most employees can work from wherever they want, according to a blog to be posted Tuesday. Buzzfeed earlier reported the policy.

"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,” Twitter said in the post. "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 has more than 35 offices worldwide, including in Paris, New York and Toronto.

"We’ve been very thoughtful in how we’ve approached this from the time we were one of the first companies to move to a work-from-home model,” Twitter said in a statement. "We’ll continue to be, and we’ll continue to put the safety of our people and communities first.”

The announcement follows directives from Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc that their employees should expect to work from home for the rest of the year. The clarity will help employees make longer-term plans about where they decide to live and what office equipment they choose to purchase for their homes. – Bloomberg