Apple employees must begin dragging their sad asses back to the office

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Apple Park Close up
Apple Park will soon be humming with busy employees again.
Photo: Apple

Monday is the day Apple requires its corporate employees to start working in the office some of the time. The pandemic era when most of them could work from home all the time is over.

But everyone doesn’t have to be back in the office five days a week starting today. This is the beginning of a transition period, after which many workers will still be able to work from home a couple days of every week.

Apple employees return to the office

During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, most Apple corporate employees were allowed to work from home. Two years later, case counts are low enough that Apple expects its workers back in Apple Park and other corporate offices.

CEO Tim Cook previously told the company, “For many of you, I know that returning to the office represents a long-awaited milestone and a positive sign that we can engage more fully with the colleagues who play such an important role in our lives. For others, it may also be an unsettling change.”

For some employees, the change goes beyond unsettling. They don’t want to return to commuting, or living in expensive Silicon Valley, and have threatened to quit. Apple has resorted to hefty bonuses to retain top talent.

But others have already been back in the office for a while, at least part time.

A gradual transition

Starting April 11, every Apple employee must be in their office at least one day a week. On May 2, the requirement goes up to two days a week. As of May 23, workers must be in the office on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of every week.

But this doesn’t apply to everyone. “A number of teams have a greater need to work in person,” said Cook. He didn’t go into specifics, but that likely includes people working with prototype hardware, like the upcoming MacBooks, iPhones and iPads expected later this year.

Of course, Apple retail employees have been working in person for months.

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