Twitter Says No Changes to SF Headquarters Planned Even Though Employees Can Work From Home Permanently

Twitter says it has no plans to leave its San Francisco-based headquarters, despite an email that went out on Tuesday, stating that employees who want to work from home permanently will be able to do so.

A spokesperson for the social media giant told KQED there’s “no change to headquarters planned” as of yet, and said the building — located in San Francisco’s South of Market Street district — will remain open for workers who choose to go back once it is safe to do so.

BuzzFeed News first reported the shift to a remote workforce on Tuesday.

There are no estimates as to how many workers plan to continue working remotely once shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted. But a spokesperson with the company said they expect a majority of the workforce will be able to work from home if they choose.

This week, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the city would begin to ease restrictions from its shelter-in-place order on May 18, allowing some retail shops to reopen for curbside pickup — in line with state guidelines. However, both state and local officials have not yet announced when offices where telework is possible might reopen.

“I know that people are anxious to see our city reopen,” said Breed during her Monday press conference. “I’m anxious to see our city reopen. This has been a very tough and challenging time for all of us.”

According to a blog post from Twitter’s Chief Human Resources Officer Jennifer Christie on Tuesday, offices will likely not open until September — with a few exceptions — and any reopening “will be careful, intentional, office by office and gradual.”

In early March, Twitter began encouraging its over 5,100 employees worldwide to work from home. It made the practice mandatory more than a week later on March 11.

“The past few months have proven we can make [working remotely] work. So if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen,” said Christie in the blog post.

These new guidelines will also allow Twitter employees to work from home at locations across the country if they choose.

“We’ve been working towards a model of decentralization,” the spokesperson told KQED. The new setup will allow most employees to “work from anywhere.”

In response to the pandemic, the company said it has also suspended all business travel through the end of the year.