Facebook to extend its remote working plan for long term

Facebook plans to let employees work remotely once the pandemic is over, with employees able to request home working from next week.

The company has told employees, "Anyone whose role can be done remotely can request remote work", reports BBC.

Rival big tech firms Apple and Google have recently reversed pandemic working conditions, telling staff to return to the office in the coming months.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told staff he plans to spend up to half of 2022 working remotely.

He had previously said that half of the company's 60,000 employees could be working from home within a decade.

Facebook's offices are expected to open to full capacity in October, but employees without permission to work remotely will have to come in at least half the time.

A Facebook executive declined to tell the Wall Street Journal how many employees currently had permission to work from home but said the company had approved 90% of requests.

The company told the BBC that its new remote work policies are applicable for Facebook employees only, not for subcontractors, who are widely used to carry out content moderation and other tasks.