Apple postpones return to office until October, report says

Apple won’t mandate its employees’ return to office until October.

This is according to a report by Bloomberg, which says Apple’s move is a reaction to a rise in COVID-19 cases in many countries.

Apple’s original plan, per company CEO Tim Cook’s memo to staff, was to have employees return to offices in early September, for three days per week. But Cook’s memo came in June, when COVID-19 cases in the U.S. were declining. In July, however, due to the more infectious Delta variant of the virus, cases are rising again, both in the U.S. and many other countries where Apple has offices.

Bloomberg says the company will give employees at least a month’s notice until they have to return to offices.

Apple’s initial decision to have workers return to offices was criticized by some employees. An internal letter obtained by The Verge in June requested that Apple give its workers more flexibility on whether they want to come back to the office.

Other tech giants have taken a more nuanced approach to this dilemma. Slack said it would allow its employees to work remotely forever. Google has allowed some of its workers to work remotely, while having others working for a few days per week. And Facebook said it would allow all full-time employees to work remotely, if their job descriptions allow it.