- Amazon is allowing employees with roles that can be done remotely to work from home through January 8, the company said on Wednesday.
- The extension comes has coronavirus cases have accelerated in the US after states have begun re-opening their economies.
- At the same time, the pandemic has prompted some tech companies to upend their remote work policies, with firms like Twitter allowing employees to work from home permanently.
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Amazon will allow employees to continue working remotely through January 8, 2021. The Seattle-based tech giant previously said it would extend its work-from-home policy until October 2.
"We continue to prioritize the health of our employees and follow local government guidance," an Amazon spokesperson said to Business Insider. "Employees who work in a role that can effectively be done from home are welcome to do so until January 8. 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 sanitizer."
CNBC first reported the news.
Amazon's decision to allow employees to continue working remotely though the end of 2020 comes as coronavirus cases have spiked in certain parts of the country as the economy has reopened. The United States recorded 60,000 cases in a single day on July 8, a first for the country. That compares to a peak of 36,000 new reported daily cases in April, as Business Insider's Morgan McFall-Johnsen reported.
The pandemic has prompted some companies to completely rethink their remote work policies, with some companies launching increasingly flexible options that in some cases allow employees to work from home permanently.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, for example, said in May that employees would be able to work remotely forever if they choose to do so. Box CEO Aaron Levie also said in May that employees could work from home through the end of the year.
Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield also said when speaking to Bloomberg TV's Emily Chang that the company has been thinking about allowing employees to work from home indefinitely.
"I don't know that we're going to be able to take it back," he told Bloomberg TV. "If we say you're able to work remotely and you move with your family to a different state, we can't call you up and say, 'Alright, come back to the Bay Area and buy a house.'"
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