In August, it was reported that Microsoft was planning to mandate its employees back to the office “at least” three days a week beginning in 2026. (Employees currently can work remotely “half” of the workweek.) Now, according to an internal email sent to Microsoft staff on Tuesday, the company has finalized its plans and is issuing a return-to-office (RTO) mandate in three phases, starting in February 2026, according to Business Insider.
CEO Satya Nadella explained why at an all-employee town hall on Thursday, the outlet reports. Nadella noted that one “unintended consequence” of remote work was losing the social ties that are “necessary for innovation.”
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“Weak ties, you know, become weaker, stronger ties become stronger, and new ties are tough to form, right? That’s it,” Nadella said at the event, according to internal comments reviewed by Business Insider. “If you think of it as a simple network problem, that was the conclusion.”
When announcing the new RTO policy on Tuesday, Microsoft HR chief Amy Coleman sent an email to employees that said the first phase of RTO will focus on workers who live in the Puget Sound, Washington area, and will begin around February 23.
Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., departs following a meeting of the White House Task Force on AI Education in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. Eric Lee/Bloomberg | Getty Images
“In the AI era, we are moving faster than ever, building world-class technology that changes how people live and work, and how organizations everywhere operate,” the email reads. “If you reflect on our history, the most meaningful breakthroughs happen when we build on each other’s ideas together, in real time.”
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As of June 30, Microsoft employed 228,000 workers, with 125,000 located in the U.S.
The RTO mandate will then expand to other offices in the U.S., and, eventually, internationally. Planning will begin in 2026, according to the email.
At the town hall, Coleman said that the decision for RTO was made after examining internal data that found employees “thrive” more when they spend at least three days a week in the office.
“We’ve looked at how our teams work best, and the data is clear: when people work together in person more often, they thrive—they are more energized, empowered, and they deliver stronger results,” Coleman said.
In August, it was reported that Microsoft was planning to mandate its employees back to the office “at least” three days a week beginning in 2026. (Employees currently can work remotely “half” of the workweek.) Now, according to an internal email sent to Microsoft staff on Tuesday, the company has finalized its plans and is issuing a return-to-office (RTO) mandate in three phases, starting in February 2026, according to Business Insider.
CEO Satya Nadella explained why at an all-employee town hall on Thursday, the outlet reports. Nadella noted that one “unintended consequence” of remote work was losing the social ties that are “necessary for innovation.”
Related: Amazon Tells Thousands of Employees to Relocate or Resign
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