Apple employees have officially begun returning to in-person work after working remotely since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Apple’s decision to return to in-person, albeit on a very limited basis for the time being, has not been without criticism, but the company has pressed ahead with its plans.
Following multiple starts and stops due to spikes in COVID-19 cases, Apple officially set its April 11 date for return to in-person work back in March. As of April 11, corporate employees are now required to work in person at least one day per week. Starting three weeks from today, on May 2, employees will be required to work from the office two days per week.
Come May 23, employees will need to be in the office three days per week as part of Apple’s “hybrid” work plan. Apple CEO Tim Cook has not reveaed how long the hybrid plan would be in place for, and described it as a “pilot,” which implies that it could change as needed.
Apple is one of the few Silicon Valley companies mandating in-person work. Twitter is allowing its employees to permanently work from home, as can most Facebook employees. Google is mandating some teams return to in-person work starting as early as this month, but many employees are able to permanently work from home.
As is familiar by now, this is all dependent on whichever COVID-19 strain is active at any given point in time. The current variant in the United States, coined “BA.2,” is a sub variant of the highly infectious Omicron variant, and could shift how safe it is for Apple employees to return to in-person work.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.