Apple Requiring Employees to Return to Office 3x Per Week Starting on September 5

Apple today informed corporate employees that they must return to the office for three days starting the week of Monday, September 5, reports Bloomberg. Apple will require employees work in-person on Tuesday, Thursday, and a third day that will vary by team as part of a hybrid return-to-work plan.

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Apple initially planned to require employees to return to the office three days a week in May, but that timeline was delayed due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. For the last several months, Apple employees have been working in the office for two days per week, but the company is now implementing its full return schedule.

Employees were initially going to be required to work on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, but Bloomberg says Apple has changed the plan. All employees will need to be in-office on Tuesday and Thursday, but the third day will be set by team leaders and will vary from team to team. On other days, most employees will be able to work from home. It's worth noting that Monday, September 5 is a holiday, so employees will need to work Tuesday, Thursday, and one other day that week.

Many tech companies implemented permanent work from home policies for employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Apple did not. Throughout the global crisis, Apple has made it clear that employees would need to return to in-person work and collaboration.

"For all that we've been able to achieve while many of us have been separated, the truth is that there has been something essential missing from this past year: each other," Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees in June 2021. "Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us, to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate."

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Top Rated Comments

iObama Avatar
11 months ago
I don't understand why people on this forum are so against people wanting to work from home. Okay, so you wouldn't do it, but why make fun of others wanting to do it and why belittle it?

I legitimately did the best work of my life during WFH. I miss it.

I think most of those that don't either a) are people who enjoy going into the office for the social aspect or b) are managers who are resistant to change.
Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spazzcat Avatar
11 months ago

I found more productivity and collaboration working in the office even though WFH is quite comfortable. I guess those who advocate against WFH work simple jobs and would rather work 2-3 hours at home and spend the rest chilling. Those with more demanding jobs require close collaboration with teammates to maximize efficiency and productivity.
The team I work on consists of people that live in Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan, Canada, and Ecuador... We have a huge workload, and somehow we are massively productive without ever going into an office.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rwilliams Avatar
11 months ago

Get these cry babies back to work. Enough of this work from home. 3 days is more than generous. They went to the office before COVID they can do it again. If they don’t like it they can quit.
The problem is, the pandemic illustrated how much time and money people saved by not commuting every day. That’s extremely hard to give up. So yeah, there will probably be people who choose to leave instead of doing this.
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GizmoDVD Avatar
11 months ago
Just gonna grab some popcorn so I can read how amazing people who WFM are and how productive they are and they never do anything but work
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
levitynyc Avatar
11 months ago
Forcing people back to the office is a much cheaper and slimier way to announce layoffs.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spike1999 Avatar
11 months ago

Sounds fair. Two days to be lazy and not have to drive into the office? I could do the same set up at my job, but I choose to drive in daily because I've found that working from home taints my home space with work vibes, and I don't want to think about the job while home.
its fair enough WFH doesn’t work for everyone and flexibility is a good thing, but please don’t assume not being in the office is being lazy, not driving in is a godsend considering the fuel prices or the train services being on strikes lately.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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