E-commerce company Amazon has decided to let its employees work from home until June 2021, extending the timeline to return to office due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Employees who work in a role that can effectively be done from home are welcome to do so until June 30, 2021," an Amazon spokeswoman was quoted as saying by Reuters in an emailed statement. The guidance is applicable globally, it said.
"We have invested significant funds and resources to keep those who choose to come to the office safe through physical distancing, deep cleaning, temperature checks, and by providing face coverings and hand sanitier," the Amazon spokeswoman said.
Earlier this month, the e-commerce giant said that over 19,800 of its employees have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of March. The figures were released by Amazon after some workers in logistics centers criticised the company's safeguards to protect them from the pandemic as well as its reluctance to share information about colleagues who get infected.
In May this year, Twitter became the first major tech company to allow employees who can work remotely to do so indefinitely. The company has suspended almost all employee business travel and all of its in-person until 2021. It is also giving employees increased allowances to buy home office supplies including desks and desk chairs.
