Apple: Full-time employees must return to office in September

Apple’s full-time employees are reportedly going back to the office in September.

Tim Cook, the company’s CEO, sent out an email to employees, asking them to come back to the office in September, according to Bloomberg and The Verge.

Cook said most employees would be expected to be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, at a minimum. They would, however, have the option to work remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Individuals that work together in person, as part of a team, would be required to return to the office four to five times a week.

In fact, some of Apple’s employees continued to work from the tech giant’s offices on specific days during the pandemic — even though it’s thought most of these were able to do to remote work.

“Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us, to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate,” the executive reportedly wrote in the letter.

Apple employees will now be able to work remotely for an additional two weeks a year pending a manager’s approval.

Cook said this new way of working was a pilot and noted that its success would be evaluated in 2022.

Tech giants and the future of work

Apple’s note to employees comes after fellow tech giant Google said in May that it would follow a hybrid work week model, whereby workers are required to be in the office for approximately three days every week.

Google said it expected the vast majority (60%) of employees to work in the office when it opens them in September. Another 20% of its workforce would work from new office locations and the remaining 20% would continue to work remotely.

Facebook has also made headlines over its new approach to the future of work. Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s billionaire CEO, said workers could apply for permanent remote work and that he believed that half of the company’s workforce could work from home within the next decade.