Apple CEO Tim Cook has told employees that it’s “likely” that the majority of Apple team members will continue to work remotely until at least June 2021. Cook’s remarks come in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic‘s resurgence in many parts of the world.
Bloomberg reports that Cook’s comments came during a virtual town hall meeting with employees on Thursday. Cook told the virtually assembled that while there is no replacement for face-to-face collaboration, a lot has been learned from working remotely this year:
“There’s no replacement for face-to-face collaboration, but we have also learned a great deal about how we can get our work done outside of the office without sacrificing productivity or results,” he told staff, according to people familiar with the comments. “All of these learnings are important. When we’re on the other side of this pandemic, we will preserve everything that is great about Apple while incorporating the best of our transformations this year.”
Cook told employees that it “seems likely” that the majority of Apple team members won’t be back in the office before June of 2021. This means that the majority of teams at Apple will continue working remotely, at least through then.
Cook said it “seems likely” that the majority of teams won’t be back before June 2021. The Cupertino, California-based technology giant has historically had an office-centric culture, but the CEO implied that the company’s success this year during the pandemic lockdown could enable more flexibility to work remotely in the future.
Cook also informed employees that, because of the “challenges over the past several months,” they will receive an additional paid holiday on January 4.