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Apple says in-person work is ‘essential’ and will not go back from its hybrid work plan

Earlier this month, Tim Cook announced in an internal memo that Apple is going to adopt a new hybrid work plan that will require employees to work in-person at least three days a week. While this has resulted in some controversy, the company reaffirmed that it has no plans to go back on its decision, as it considers in-person work “essential.”

In an internal video obtained by The Verge, senior VP of retail and people Deirdre O’Brien said that Apple believes that “in-person collaboration is essential to our culture and our future.” O’Brien also mentioned that the products and services introduced by Apple in the past have all been the result of in-person collaboration.

“If we take a moment to reflect on our unbelievable product launches this past year, the products and the launch execution were built upon the base of years of work that we did when we were all together in-person.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple had to close its offices in 2020, which resulted in more than a year of completely remote work. Now that the situation is better in the US, the company wants its employees to return to in-person work, but there’s a group of people who have taken a stand against this decision.

Employees have sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking the company to let them choose to work in-person or remote, but Apple is denying this request. As mentioned by the report, the company will consider each case individually, but the order now is to return to the office on the hybrid model.

Now, Apple is essentially denying that request, saying any remote work decisions will be made “on a case-by-case basis with any new remote positions requiring executive approval.”

Although a hybrid working model is part of a new, more relaxed approach from Apple, it’s still quite traditional when compared to other companies like Google and Facebook, which let their employees work remotely indefinitely.

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Avatar for Filipe Espósito Filipe Espósito

Filipe Espósito is a Brazilian tech Journalist who started covering Apple news on iHelp BR with some exclusive scoops — including the reveal of the new Apple Watch Series 5 models in titanium and ceramic. He joined 9to5Mac to share even more tech news around the world.

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