Microsoft Italy has announced some provisions regarding the issue of the moment, the Coronavirus.
MARCH 22, 2021 | Microsoft has announced that it will begin reopening its workplaces starting March 29 with the hope of fully reopening on July 6.
In March of last year, I sent an email to our employees around the world, indicating that we were establishing a mandatory work from home policy for our global job sites, with the exception of essential on-site workers. To date, after more than a year of most Microsoft employees working remotely, many of our job sites around the world have reached a stage that meets or exceeds government requirements to accommodate more workers, while many other employees they will continue to work remotely.Currently, Microsoft job sites in 21 countries have been able to accommodate additional workers at our facilities, which represent approximately 20% of our global employee population. On March 29, Microsoft will also begin making this change at its Redmond, Washington, headquarters, and neighboring campuses.
OCTOBER 9, 2020 | Microsoft would have told employees that they will be able to decide whether to work permanently from home for less than 50% of the work week even after the end of the pandemic.
1 AUGUST 2020 | According to a new report , the Microsoft employees will not back at work January 1, 2021 .
In the United States, we have established that the earliest possible date for Phase 6 is now January 19, 2021.
18 MAY 2020 | While all of our activities have resumed, or nearly so, almost all Microsoft employees will not return to their jobs before October . In this regard, in an interview with The New York Times, Satya Nadella intervened and expressed her doubts regarding prolonged smart-working , indicating it as possibly harmful from a mental and social point of view.
14 APRIL 2020 | After limiting the use of the cloud for some non-essential services , Microsoft has announced that it has doubled the credit offer of Microsoft Azure to a total of 35 million dollars for research and nonprofits – more details in this’ other article .
Today, we’re building on our long-standing support to the nonprofit sector by committing $ 35 million to double our Microsoft Azure credits, increase our Windows benefits and add new pro bono services to help critical care and first response nonprofits in their efforts to combat COVID-19.
23 MARCH 2020 | Microsoft has provided Seattle workers , who continue their business , with the protective materials they need to safely perform their roles in the workplace.
22 MARCH 2020 | Satya Nadella sent a letter to all employees to thank them for the efforts and sacrifices made by all the teams in all sectors in which Microsoft operates during this period of emergency for the Coronavirus.
I want to share my heartfelt thanks to each of you for the creative and collaborative ways you have stepped up to support our company and our customers during this crisis. It’s times like this that remind us that each of us has something to offer and the importance of coming together as a community. Please know that the senior management team and I are thinking of you and prioritizing your health and the safety of your families first. We meet and work every day on how we can best support you during this time.
19 MARCH 2020 | Microsoft Italy has published an update regarding the measures taken for the Coronavirus emergency.
We understand that each of our customers and partners is facing specific difficulties as a result of the Coronavirus (Covid-19). Our team has worked to ensure that using Microsoft as a trusted vendor and partner is not one of these challenges. To this end, we wish to provide the following information:
Collaboration with the Government
We are carefully following the instructions of the Italian Government and the Ministries involved in managing the situation and are providing our support to support the government departments.
In particular, together with the ecosystem of our Partners within the Digital Solidarity initiative of the Ministry for Technological Innovation and Digitization, we have made Microsoft technology, its expertise and its IT experts available free of charge to quickly overcome any technological blocks and enable all Italian companies and entities to Smart working , from SMEs to private and public companies , institutions and schools , allowing to face the emerging needs of remote and / or mobile work while maintaining a high level of productivity and collaboration in complete safety.
Microsoft employees
We have a global team of healthcare experts who take action to protect our employees based on the risk assessment communicated by global health authorities and based on local conditions. We have advanced Business Continuity plans to minimize disruption to business operations and those of our customers and partners. These plans include flexible ways of working for our employees, a comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery program, and a global support organization with a 24 × 7 geo-diverse team.
Customers and partners
We will continue to monitor government guidelines and review our plans on a case-by-case basis for major events and meetings. We will communicate with customers and partners as necessary based on their communication preferences with Microsoft.
Work remotely with Microsoft Teams
We are currently receiving a lot of questions regarding recommendations and support for working and studying remotely. Microsoft’s mission is to help people and businesses around the world achieve more. For more information on our commitment to customers and partners during COVID-19, you can read this blog. Parents and educators looking for information on remote learning can read this article.
Business Continuity
Microsoft’s Board of Directors annually authorizes the Enterprise Business Continuity Management (BCM) Program Office to provide BCM governance, oversight and support for Microsoft’s business divisions and support through a program policy and purpose document. The Continuity Council is established to guide the sponsorship, knowledge, resource allocation and accountability of the Business Continuity program within the company, including regular incident management trials and training.
We are not aware of any issues that are impacting the use of Microsoft cloud services by customers in Italy.
Microsoft has a solid contingency supply chain plan for the Italian market. As this is a dynamic situation, it is too early for Microsoft to speculate on any implications for the supply chain. Our focus is on maintaining our high standards of service at all times for customers and partners.
External visitors
We take the safety and well-being of our employees, customers and partners very seriously. Microsoft Italy is complying with all guidelines and directives issued at national and local level, as well as continuously monitoring the situation.
Microsoft Italy office guidelines
Visitor Policy – Microsoft’s offices in Rome and Milan are temporarily closed to external guests. In any case, a security guard and staff personnel are active in every location for any need.
On-Site Cleaning – We have proactively introduced a cleaning protocol that goes beyond normal guidelines for areas of greatest contact. Daily cleaning areas with disinfectant products include: all door handles, elevator buttons, stair handrails, conference room tables, chairs, armrests, dining areas, all accessible objects, devices and the sanitary surfaces in the bathrooms. We have also placed signs in common areas and toilets to remind people of the importance of following the rules of conduct indicated to limit the spread of the virus.
- Additional measures – We are considering further measures in line with our Business Continuity plan and potential government guidelines. Additional measures can also be introduced by our owners in shared environments. For everyone’s protection, we ask all external visitors to cooperate with our security teams operating at each location.
MARCH 17, 2020 | Microsoft has partnered with other communications giants to deliver the services safely in coordination with ministries of health around the world.
In addition, in the wake of Apple and other companies, Microsoft has also ordered the closure of all its physical stores around the world with immediate effect.
MARCH 9, 2020 | Microsoft donated $ 1 million to the Seattle region – find more details here .
6 MARCH 2020 | While there are already two affected employees, Microsoft has formalized the previously leaked provisions for the Coronavirus also announcing that there will be no reductions in wages during the period of reduced activity in order not to create difficulties and slow the economy.
We recognize the hardships lost work can mean for hourly employees. As a result, we have decided that Microsoft will continue to pay all hourly service providers at their regular pay during this period of reduced service requirements. This is independent of whether their full services are needed.
5 MARCH 2020 | After the communication from Microsoft Italy, a report arrivesthat Corp has also made strict provisions for the Seattle and San Francisco offices , allowing smart working to employees until March 25 .
Microsoft Italy and the Coronavirus
Following the situation of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Italy, Microsoft has implemented some prevention and protection measures for its employees, customers and partners in collaboration with the team of international experts Global Security and in compliance with the directives issued, at Regional and national, by the Ministry of Health.
In particular, Microsoft Italy:
- It immediately checked the situation of its employees and, to date, no staff member has been impacted by the Coronavirus;
- It has implemented an internal communication plan which, since Friday evening, has constantly updated the entire network of employees and collaborators of the company with precise indications on public information relating to the directives for prevention and the relative measures to be followed, issued at the regional and national by the Ministry of Health;
- He kept the offices in Milan and Rome open (activating major health and safety protocols), inviting all employees and collaborators of the company to work in smartworking (a practice that Microsoft Italy usually adopts) and to use for meetings and meetings with customers and partner the Microsoft Teams solution for internal and external collaboration
- It has canceled, in line with the directives issued in Lombardy, all public and private events and where possible created virtual meetings with customers and partners always through Microsoft Teams
- It informed all employees in transit and traveling to Italy of the precautions to be taken and the measures in place in the affected areas and regions, asking them to cancel non-essential trips.
Microsoft Italy is constantly monitoring the situation with the Global Security team of international experts and will follow all the indications and directives from the Regional and National Authorities, adapting the action plan in Italy.
Microsoft also closely follows requests from public and private customers who, in some impacted and restricted areas, are identifying ways of collaboration and digital business continuity, through the use of smartworking and cloud computing solutions. The Microsoft experts and our partners are in contact with various companies in the country to support them in this phase, allowing them to maintain levels of productivity and business continuity thanks to digital platforms.
