>>Microsoft will be covering home office expenses for permanent remote workers,
And what of thousands of contractors who must pay out of their substandard paychecks?
Well, that is a different issue. Subcontractors (v-dash at Microsoft) used to walk the halls developing relationships, and getting contracts. Now you cant walk the halls because you cant get in the buildings, and even if you could they are empty. Microsoft has roughly 100K employees, and 100K contractors. They also require contracts expire every June 30, and no person can be on contract for more than 18 months (unless on a managed services contract) then they have to take a 6 month hiatus. The consulting industry is going to go thru a massive transformation, and it will affect the tech giants pretty significantly.