Apple asks corporate employees to return to work for three days a week starting in September

The coronavirus pandemic is not over. However, its impact in some parts of the world is starting to lessen. As a result, some companies are looking ahead to when employees will be able to make the return back to the office.

Apple is one such company. And, as first reported today byĀ The Verge, the company has a plan. Tim Cook, the companyā€™s chief executive, has sent out a memo to corporate employees letting them know that theyā€™ll be asked to return to the office for at least three days a week beginning in September of this year.

The transition back to the office is expected to begin in the early stages of the month. Cook has never been shy about saying Apple is a company about working together, and that includes corporate employees at the companyā€™s headquarters. The goal has always been to bring them back into the fold, to get that experience back at the company.

Cook admits in the memo that video conferencing has shortened the distance between them to an extent, even as they are all working from home. However, thatā€™s not enough. Cook says that whatā€™s missing is ā€œeach other.ā€ As a result, Apple will ask most employees to return on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays of each week.

Employees will be able to work remotely on the other days of the work week. However, the teams that require in-person work will be asked to return for four or five days a week.

Interestingly, Apple is laying the groundwork for a new work-from-home initiative as well. To start, as laid out in the memo, Cook says that Apple will offer two weeks every calendar year for employees to work remotely. However, that time must be approved by managers ahead of time.

Cook closes out the memo by saying he misses the hum of activity at headquarters, and heā€™s excited to have people return to work. To get back to in-person collaboration.