Microsoft Teams is set to introduce a new feature in December 2025 that will automatically update a user's work location based on their connection to the office Wi-Fi network. This update could potentially allow employers to track whether employees are physically present in the office, raising concerns among those who prefer remote or hybrid work arrangements.
According to the Microsoft 365 roadmap, "When users connect to their organization's Wi-Fi, Teams will automatically set their work location to reflect the building they are working in." The feature, slated for release on both Windows and macOS, aims to provide clarity on employee locations, potentially aiding collaboration within large office complexes by making it easier to find colleagues.
While Microsoft suggests the feature could be a "productivity booster" for locating coworkers, its introduction coincides with a broader push by many companies, including Microsoft itself, for employees to return to the office. This has led to speculation that the tool could primarily serve as a method for monitoring office attendance, adding another layer to the ongoing debate about workplace flexibility and employee privacy.
Microsoft has stated the feature will be "off by default," requiring administrators ("tenant admins") to enable it and end-users to opt-in. This gives companies control over its implementation, but if mandated, employees may have little choice but to allow their location to be tracked when connected to the office network. The technical specifics of how Teams will verify the location beyond just the Wi-Fi name (SSID) remain unclear, but it's likely more sophisticated checks involving IP or MAC addresses will be used, rendering simple workarounds ineffective.
This development follows recent scrutiny of Microsoft regarding the bundling of Teams with Office 365, which led to the company unbundling the products under antitrust pressure. The new location-tracking feature, coupled with tools like the Copilot Dashboard tracking AI usage, signals a potential trend towards increased monitoring capabilities within workplace software, aligning with the return-to-office mandates being enforced by various organizations.
