Will Apple Employees Return To Offices In September?

With the slowing down of coronavirus cases, Apple Inc. employees are likely to return to their respective offices starting in early September, as per an email reportedly sent by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.

Reports said citing the letter that the company is asking employees to return to the office three days a week from September.

With the proposed new changes, the employees can also work remotely for up to two weeks a year. Cook also encouraged all employees to get vaccinated.

Most employees may be required to be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, with the option of working remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays. Meanwhile, those teams that need to work in-person will return four to five days a week.

Apple employees have been working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. In December, a Bloomberg report said Cook told employees that they could be asked to come back to the office as early as June.

In the memo informing staff of the change, 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.”

As per the letter, the company will allow employees to work remotely for up to two weeks a year that will allow them to be closer to family and loved ones, find a change of scenery, manage unexpected travel, or a different reason. The company managers are required to approve remote work requests.

Since the start of coronavirus pandemic, corporates across the world have allowed employees to work from home aiming to help slow down the spread of virus. Of late, many companies are revising their work from home policies. In early May, Google announced a new “hybrid” plan at its workplace that will see about 20% of its employees work from home even after its offices reopen later this year.

Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. in mid April said it expects employees to return to office by September 13, and that it will require employees to work at least three days from office.

Wells Fargo, the bank with the largest workforce of about 200,000 employees in US, is reportedly planning to bring its employees back into offices in September, after Labor Day. Further, auto giant Ford Motor has allowed its over 30,000 employees to continue to work from home even after the pandemic is over and use the office only when they need to.

Source: Read Full Article