Facebook Will Allow Employees to Apply for Full-Time Remote Work
Social media giant Facebook announced that their company will allow their employees to request or file for full-time remote work even after the pandemic. CNBC Make It reported that the flexible work arrangement was announced on Wednesday.
As of March 31, Facebook had more than 60,000 employees, according to a Bloomberg report, citing a regulatory filing. Workers from the social media giant were allowed to work remotely since their offices were closed due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the previous year.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Work Remotely
Employees from all levels across the company can start to file their request to work remotely even after the pandemic. CNBC Make It noted that previously, the company only allows employees with certain levels of seniority to file for a remote work arrangement.
However, the wages of the employees may be affected if ever they applied for the remote work arrangement. The wages may be adjusted accordingly if the employee will move to a lower-cost region. Moreover, employees will still be asked to report in their respective offices sometimes to enhance team-building.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also one of the personnel who will be working remotely.
"As part of my commitment to remote and hybrid work, I plan to spend as much as half of the next year working remotely," said Facebook CEO Zuckerberg to his employees on Wednesday. Zuckerberg argued that he found out that remote work gave him "more space for long-term thinking" and helped him spend more time with his family. The Facebook CEO noted that these incentives made him more productive and happier at work.
Meanwhile, Facebook employees with work that requires them to report in the office are recommended to be onsite at least half of the time. They will also be allowed to work under a "hybrid schedule in the future.
Facebook plans to reopen most of its offices in the U.S. to at least 50 percent capacity by September and fully reopen in October. Zuckerberg believed that the remote workers in the company can make up as much as 50 percent of the company's labor force in the next five to 10 years.
Facebook Teams Up With Health Groups to Address Vaccine Hesitancy
Facebook's announcement of allowing their employees to request remote work even after the pandemic comes a day after the social media giant partnered with various health groups to address the Vaccine hesitancy in under-served communities.
Cnet reported that the partnership between Facebook and the health groups was called Alliance for Advancing Health Online. Pharmaceutical companies Merck, World Health Organization (WHO), CDC Foundation, and Sabin Vaccine Institute are among the health groups that partnered with the social media giant.
Facebook's head of health, Kang-Xing Jin, noted that the alliance aims to "advance public understanding on how social media and behavioral sciences" can be utilized in improving the health of communities globally.
Jin also confirmed that the new alliance between Facebook and the health groups is creating a fund that will be given to researchers and organizations that will explore how behavioral science and social media curb vaccine hesitancy.
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WATCH: How a rise in remote employment may impact post-pandemic work life - from PBS NewsHour