After Apple employees began returning to in-person work in April of this year, the company paused the rollout of its plans due to cases of COVID-19 increasing again. On Monday, Apple set a new deadline for its corporate employees to return to the office. Starting September 5, employees will need to work in person at least a few days a week.
The news comes from Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman. According to the report, corporate employees will have to return to the office three days a week. The mandatory days are Tuesdays and Thursdays, plus a third day that can be defined by each team.
Despite the new deadline, it’s unclear whether Apple will stick with its new plan or whether the date set for returning to the office will be changed again. Apple’s corporate employees have been working from home since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. A few employees returned to the office in late 2020, while others have settled on more permanent and flexible remote working arrangements.
At first, Apple required employees to work one day a week in person. Earlier this year, the requirement was increased to two days a week. Part of the reasoning behind this arrangement is that the company still doesn’t feel that it’s time to have all employees working in the office every day, but the problem goes beyond that.
Criticism of Apple’s decision to return to the office
Apple has faced criticism for its insistence on requiring in-person work for employees, particularly since the company’s policies are more restrictive than other Silicon Valley companies. Back in May, Apple’s director of machine learning Ian Goodfellow left the company due to his disagreement with the in-person work policy.
Goodfellow now works at Google, which is much more flexible than Apple when it comes to working from home, and other Apple employees have decided to follow the same path.
Apple has yet to confirm its decision about requiring corporate employees to return to work in person for three days a week starting next month.
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