Amazon employees who can work remotely can now stay at home until January 8 due to rising cases of coronavirus across the country, according to CNBC.
In May, Amazon told employees to be prepared to work from home until at least October 2, but Wednesday’s announcement pushed that date back by more than three months.
“We continue to prioritize the health of our employees and follow local government guidance,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC. “Employees who work in a role that can effectively be done from home are welcome to do so until January 8.”
Amazon told CNBC it had 840,400 full- and part-time staff at the end of the last quarter. Those employees who work in one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers are not among the employees allowed to work from home.
Digital Trends reached out to Amazon for more details on its plans for worker safety during the pandemic. We will update this story when we hear back.
At least a few companies will inevitably let their employees work from home well past the end of coronavirus pandemic.
Some other big tech companies are also preparing for how the coronavirus will affect the workplace in the long term. Twitter, for example, is allowing some of its employees to continue working remotely even after the pandemic is over.
Apple recently asked some of its retail staff to work from home as the company navigates having to close its stores again after a brief period of reopening. And Google even went so far as to give its workers a chunk of cash to build a home office in anticipation of them having to work from home for the foreseeable future.
