Apple has notified its employees through a company-wide memo that they want staff to return to offices by September.
Chief executive Tim Cook notified the staff that they will be required to attend offices for at least three days a week, specifically Cook has requested Monday, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Some staff members will be given the option to work the remaining two days – Wednesdays and Fridays – remotely.
“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,”
However, teams that they determine require “in-person” work will return for four or five days.
As a perk though Apple also told staff they will be able to apply for the chance to work remotely for 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,”
“Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us, to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate.”
Apple’s approach to remote work is quite different to other tech giants. Mark Zuckerberg has noted that remote work “is the future,” and is letting Facebook employees work from home forever, so long as their manager approves. Google also announced that at least 20 percent of its workforce would be able to work from home permanently.
In closing of the memo he encouraged Apple staff to get vaccinated, and ended on a high note. “For now, let me simply say that I look forward to seeing your faces” he said. “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.”
