According to the latest news, Apple has asked its employees to return to the office at least three days a week from September. It was Tim Cook himself who sent out an email on Wednesday informing staff about this.
Cook said, “For all that we’ve been able to achieve while many of us have been separated, the truth is that there has been something essential missing from this past year: each other. Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us, to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate.”
According to Cook, most employees will be asked to come into the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, with the option of working remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays. He also said that teams that need to work in person would have to work four to five days a week.
According to the email, employees were given the liberty to work remotely for up to two weeks a year “to be closer to family and loved ones, find a change of scenery, manage unexpected travel, or a different reason all your own.” It is indicated that higher order managers would have to approve remote work requests.
This change is not entirely surprising for Apple staffs because though due to the pandemic outbreak, the company had to sync with work from home culture, it discouraged the same prior to 2020. Last December, Bloomberg reported that Tim Cook told employees they could be asked to come back from June 2021.
It is to be noted that Apple’s stance on remote work is still conservative compared to the other tech giants. Back in May, Google announced that 20 percent of its workforce would be able to work from home permanently. Similarly, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said remote work “is the future,” and told Facebook employees they can work from home forever as long as it is approved by their manager.
In the letter, Cook encouraged all employees to get vaccinated. He said, “For now, let me simply say that I look forward to seeing your faces. I know I’m not alone in missing the hum of activity, the energy, creativity, and collaboration of our in-person meetings, and the sense of community we’ve all built.”
Meta: Apple asks employees to join the office from early September.
Key: Apple
