By Danielle Kaye

NEW YORK (Reuters) -LinkedIn will allow employees to opt for full-time remote work or a hybrid option as offices gradually reopen, Chief People Officer Teuila Hanson told Reuters.

This new policy is a shift from the initial indication last October that Microsoft Corp’s professional social networking site would expect employees to work from an office 50% of the time when COVID-19 pandemic restrictions lift.

The updated policy, offering the flexibility to work remotely full-time or work at an office part-time, will apply to LinkedIn’s global workforce of more than 16,000 employees.

“We anticipate that we’ll definitely see more remote employees than what we saw prior to the pandemic,” Hanson said in a Wednesday interview ahead of the announcement, adding that some jobs would require in-office work.

Hanson said LinkedIn is not currently requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to return to the office, in contrast to tech companies such as Facebook and Google that have responded to a rise in U.S. COVID-19 cases by requiring shots. Twitter Inc is closing https://www.reuters.com/world/us/google-will-require-covid-19-vaccine-us-employees-step-into-campuses-2021-07-28 its recently reopened offices due to the surge in cases.

LinkedIn employees who move locations could see their pay adjusted based on the local market where they’re based, said Greg Snapper, director of corporate communications.

The tech industry was among the first to allow employees to work from home when COVID-19 hit the United States last year. But the extent to which tech companies are embracing permanent remote work is now diverging.

Apple Inc will require most employees to work from the office three days per week starting in October, while Zillow Group Inc and Reddit Inc will allow most employees to work remotely. Alphabet Inc’s Google expects 60% of its workforce to return to the office at least part-time.

LinkedIn is reopening its global offices based on COVID-19 infection rates in each location.

(Reporting by Danielle Kaye; Editing by Aurora Ellis and David Gregorio)