Last year, Microsoft asked its employees to return to the office three days a week and is now increasing that requirement to four days a week for most Xbox employees. An internal memo, seen by The edgedescribed the change as a “need to create more opportunities for people to work together” after feedback from Xbox employees.
“Starting February 1, 2027, Xbox employees in Puget Sound who live within a 50-mile radius of Studio D must work from the office at least four days per week,” Jacinda Chislum Pearson, Xbox’s chief human resources officer, said in the internal memo. “We have thousands of Xbox employees near Redmond. Taking advantage of that proximity and working together in person makes it easier to review work, resolve issues, and make decisions without having to schedule another meeting.”
The move to four days in the office will only apply to those near Microsoft’s corporate campus in Redmond, Washington, and Pearson’s memo appears to suggest that “established office practices” for Xbox Studios will remain unchanged.
Microsoft has been granted exemptions to its return-to-office rules for certain roles, and Xbox employees with existing exemptions will need to resubmit them. The return-to-office changes come just a day after a report suggested Microsoft planned to announce further layoffs at Xbox this month, as well as in November and January. Microsoft announced in July that it planned to cut about 20% of Xbox jobs by the end of its fiscal year at the end of June 2027.
Xbox is also positioning its updated return to office policy as one that “should be worth the investment” of taking the time to travel to the office, especially for those 40 to 50 miles away. “Leaders need to be present, and coming into the office shouldn’t mean spending the same day on Teams calls from another building,” says Pearson. “Time well spent means reviewing work, solving problems, and playing games together, strengthening our path to becoming one Xbox.” »
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