Apple Inc, facing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and the fast-spreading Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, is delaying its corporate return-to-office deadline from Feb. 1 next year to a “date yet to be determined.”
Employees were informed of the move via a memo sent by Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook on Wednesday.
An Apple spokesman confirmed the decision to Bloomberg News.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The delay comes just weeks after the company asked employees to begin returning by February, a timeline that had already been pushed back several times.
The lack of a firm date shows the struggle that companies face in trying to get their operations back to normal.
Fellow tech giant Microsoft Corp scrapped its return-to-work date in September.
“We are delaying the start of our hybrid work pilot to a date yet to be determined,” Cook said in the memo. “Our offices remain open and many of our colleagues are coming in regularly, including our teams in Greater China and elsewhere.”
The decision had been made based on “rising cases in many parts of the world and the emergence of a new strain of the virus,” he said.
Cook also strongly encouraged employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots, saying that “this is by far the best way to keep you and your community safe.”
Apple had previously delayed its office-return plans from June, September, October and January. The latest decision comes as the company restored its mask mandate to all US retail stores and temporarily shut three locations because of rising virus cases among employees.
In the memo, Cook also said the Cupertino, California-based company would provide each employee a US$1,000 bonus that might be used for work-from-home needs, saying that it is “in support of our commitment to a more flexible environment.”
That includes retail workers, he added.
“These funds are intended to help you with your home workspace and can be used as you see fit. You will be receiving more information about this shortly,” he said.
When Apple’s staff eventually returns to the office, they would be expected to work in-person on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. They would be allowed to work from home on Wednesdays and Fridays depending on their team. The company is also offering an additional one month of work-from-home time.
Apple workers would get at least four weeks notice before a new back-to-the-office deadline takes effect, Cook said.
“As we look forward to more of our teams being together again, we will continue to make decisions based on local conditions,” he said.
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
RSS