Microsoft Corp. said it would start bringing its employees back to the office at the end of this month, becoming the latest company to bet business can begin returning to normal, as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 virus seems to be receding.

Starting Feb. 28, Microsoft will give its employees 30 days to shift to a new stage of hybrid working which will bring more people onto its campuses. Who is required in the office and when will be decided by each team, said Chris Capossela, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer, in a blog...

Microsoft Corp. said it would start bringing its employees back to the office at the end of this month, becoming the latest company to bet business can begin returning to normal, as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 virus seems to be receding.

Starting Feb. 28, Microsoft will give its employees 30 days to shift to a new stage of hybrid working which will bring more people onto its campuses. Who is required in the office and when will be decided by each team, said Chris Capossela, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer, in a blog post.

“Our approach to hybrid embraces schedule flexibility as standard for most roles and provides employees with the opportunity to determine how and where they work best, while making sure an individual’s plans align to the team agreements set with their manager,” he said.

Mr. Capossela said the company was ready to start reopening because of the high vaccination rates for Covid-19 in King County, where most of the company’s Washington-based employees live, as well as declining hospitalizations and deaths in the state.

In September, Microsoft said it would be indefinitely postponing reopening of its Redmond, Wash. headquarters. The company had months before anticipated reopening its U.S. offices in October but decided against it as the Delta variant surged.

The company’s Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View, Calif., will fully open on Feb. 28, the blog post said.

Many large employers are beginning to call workers back to corporate campuses. Walmart Inc. told its corporate employees last month that it would expect them to begin working from the company’s offices “the majority of time” as of Feb. 28.

Expedia Group Inc. told employees Monday that it will expect staffers to work from its Seattle headquarters and other offices, on a hybrid basis, beginning April 4. Employees will be asked to work from an office at least 50% of the time, while working out scheduling details with their individual teams, an Expedia spokeswoman said.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.

has said that it plans to fully reopen its U.S. campuses at the end of March, though it has also given many employees the option to do their jobs remotely, or to temporarily push back an office return by three to five months.

Other large tech companies have delayed recent plans for office reopening. In December, Alphabet Inc.’s Google delayed its scheduled return-to-office efforts that were supposed to start Jan. 10. Also that month, Apple Inc. delayed its return to the office and closed several retail locations.

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From New York to California, an increasing number of states are lifting statewide mask mandates as the Omicron wave recedes. Federal public-health officials, meanwhile, continue to recommend mask-wearing in public indoor settings in much of the country. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition

What makes office reopenings challenging, executives say, is workers have adapted to new routines in the pandemic. Many staffers are reluctant to give up remote-work arrangements entirely, and some workers have threatened to quit if asked to return to an office full-time, executives say.

In surveys, workers have expressed a desire for flexibility and control over their schedules. Some companies have also come to believe gathering in-person even once a quarter at an off-site location may be enough to help colleagues bond and collaborate with their peers.

“‘We know there’s not a singular solution to how people work best.’”

— Microsoft’s Chris Capossela

In the largest U.S. cities, many offices remain mostly empty. As of early February, offices in 10 major cities were on average 33% occupied, according to Kastle Systems, which tracks how many people swipe into buildings.

Microsoft has embraced hybrid work for its employees, especially as the use of the company’s Teams collaboration software surged during the pandemic. Microsoft said Monday that its approach to hybrid work embraces flexibility in employees’ schedules.

“We know there’s not a singular solution to how people work best, which is why we believe flexibility should be at the forefront of our evolving hybrid workplace,” Mr. Capossela said in the blog post.

Write to Aaron Tilley at aaron.tilley@wsj.com and Chip Cutter at chip.cutter@wsj.com