Amazon Allows Work From Home Until June 2021; Here Are Other Companies Allowing Remote Working

KEY POINTS

Amazon's corporate employees can work from home through June 2021
The company says it is eager to follow government guidance during the pandemic
Facebook, Twitter and Slack also made similar announcements

Amazon became the latest company to allow its employees to work from home through June 2021, following similar announcements from major tech players in the U.S.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC that the company prioritizes the health of its employees and is eager to "follow local government guidance", by extending its work from home policy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is for Amazon's corporate employees who have been working remotely since the start of the pandemic. The on-ground staff, including warehouse employees and delivery drivers, will have to report to work every day. As the pandemic pushed e-commerce sales up, Amazon has benefitted hugely, making these operations essential for the company.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been at the receiving end of widespread criticism about the company's treatment of frontline workers and alleged violation of safety guidelines amid the coronavirus. The company maintained that it is supporting its employees with financial and medical aid.

Many tech giants have announced an extension of their work from home policies. Apple announced in June that employees can work remotely until early 2021. "It would depend on the success with a vaccine, to go beyond that," Tim Cook told Bloomberg.

Google and its parent company Alphabet followed suit and in July, they asked employees to stay home till the summer of 2021. Soon after this, in August, social networking giant Facebook announced an extension of remote working for its employees till the summer of 2021.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced an extension in its work from home policy till 2021 but said his employees could work from home "forever" if they wished.

It was also reported that Microsoft would allow its employees to work from home permanently. Communication application Slack and cloud services Dropbox announced remote working for its employees until June 2021.

These policies come as the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. rises. The count, as of Tuesday, was close to 8.2 million with over 200,000 deaths.