Bloomberg reports that Apple has decided to delay the return to in-person work for at least a month. The publication says its sources tell it that the decision is related to the COVID-19 variants that have been spreading across several countries.
Apple CEO Tim Cook in June told employees that they would return to the office in September. Cook told the employees in a memo that they would have to come into the office for three days per week at least until 2022.
However, as COVID-19 variants continue to drive up virus cases in multiple countries, despite the ongoing vaccination push around the globe. The rise in cases of the virus has led some companies to rethink their in-office strategies for 2021.
While some companies, like Facebook and Google, have been quite flexible when it comes to employees continuing to work from home, Apple has opted for a hybrid approach where employees will work in-office three days per week. While some Apple employees have begun coming into the office a few days per week, it would become mandatory for all employees beginning in September.
However, according to the Bloomberg report, Apple has extended its in-office return deadline to return to the office until October.
As reported earlier this month, not all employees are ready and willing to return to the office, with some employees saying they’ll quit the company if it denies their requests for remote work.
In a survey on remote work conducted by employees in June, 36.7% of respondents said they were worried they’d have to leave Apple due to the lack of flexibility (1,735 people responded to the question).