Apple Taking Extra Time Off at Thanksgiving in Recognition of Year's Success

cook hero20110204MacGeneration shares a new email from Tim Cook to Apple employees notifying them of the company's plans to shut down for the entire week of Thanksgiving in the United States. The extra vacation time, which will see the corporate employees receiving paid time off for November 21-23 leading into the Thanksgiving holiday, comes in recognition of the company's strong performance this year.

Team,

I consider it an honor to come to work every day alongside the most innovative and most dedicated people on earth. This is an extraordinary time to be at Apple, and it's all made possible by your incredible efforts.

We've had a record-setting year so far and we're heading into the holidays with the strongest product lineup in our history. Customers are absolutely in love with the iPad 2, and the amazing new iPhone 4S is off to the best start of any iPhone we've ever made. The Mac is soaring to new heights with OS X Lion, and on the eve of its 10th birthday, the iPod is still the world's most popular music player.

In recognition of the hard work you've put in this year, we're going to take some extra time off for Thanksgiving. We will shut down with pay on November 21, 22 and 23 so our teams can spend the entire week with their families and friends.

Of course, Retail and some other groups will need to work that week so we can continue to serve our customers. If you're in one of these groups, please check with your manager about taking time off at a later date. Our international teams will schedule their three-day shutdowns this quarter at a time that's best for them. Details will be available on AppleWeb.

I hope everyone enjoys this much deserved break.

Tim

As Cook notes, there is some flexibility in the plan outside of Apple's corporate operations in the United States, with international units being able to schedule their time off at a time appropriate for them. Retail stores will obviously also need to remain up and running over the holiday week, particularly with the day after Thanksgiving being "Black Friday", the busiest shopping day of the year. Consequently, retail store employees will have to schedule their time off at other times.

Apple has routinely shut down for several days around Christmas, and it was rumored last year that developer services through iTunes Connect might also be shutting down over Thanksgiving, but no such shutdown came to pass.

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Top Rated Comments

overcast Avatar
178 months ago
What?
Mr. Jobs leaves us, and Tim Cook is already taking time off?

What baout shutting down the store and giving retail employees paid time off?...not so much, huh.....

What about shutting down the store on the day after Mr. Jobs death for his recognition? not so much, huh

But yuo go ahead and take your vacation Mr. Cook.
Oh give it a rest.
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nwcs Avatar
178 months ago
Wow, I'd hate to work for some of the people who commented above me. This is a strategic and smart move by Tim Cook. And it always helps the morale and motivation to reward your employees. Kudos to team Apple.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BornAgainMac Avatar
178 months ago
Apple needs to shutdown for about a year so Microsoft and Google can catch up.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
admanimal Avatar
178 months ago
What?
Mr. Jobs leaves us, and Tim Cook is already taking time off?

What baout shutting down the store and giving retail employees paid time off?...not so much, huh.....

What about shutting down the store on the day after Mr. Jobs death for his recognition? not so much, huh

But yuo go ahead and take your vacation Mr. Cook.

Did you even read the story? All Apple employees are getting the time off. Some of them will just have to schedule it for another time as that week is either a) one of the most important of the year for retail or b) not significant if you are in a country other than the U.S.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
techweenie Avatar
178 months ago
"He's not MY CEO"

"Faked his birth certificate."

"Scammed his way into office."

-- there will always be critics. Tim Cook may show a bit more humanity than his predecessor, and that will be upsetting to some.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spiderman0616 Avatar
178 months ago
Everything Tim Cook does from now on, good or bad, is going to attract the idiotic comments that it's a post-Jobs fail.

Tim Cook has proven time and again that he knows how to run the company. If any of you haters knew how to run it better, then you would be. But instead, you're busy being armchair analysts, which is even worse than the tech blogs.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)