Apple Is Delaying Its Return-to-Office Date Indefinitely and Giving All Employees a $1,000 Bonus The company's most recent push-back isn't its first precaution in the face of new Covid-19 developments.
By Amanda Breen •
As uncertainy surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and fast-spreading Omicron variant continues, companies that had planned to bring employees back to the office in some capacity have been forced to reassess once again.
Google pushed its Jan. 10 reopening further into 2022, and now Apple has joined the club, saying its employees won't return until a "yet to be determined date." The company is also giving its workers a $1,000 bonus to revamp their home offices.
News of the delay and bonus was shared with Apple employees in an email from CEO Tim Cook, per multiple reports, and Apple confirmed the email's contents to CNN Business.
Related: Apple CEO Tim Cook Hits Billionaire Status
Apple employees were scheduled to shift to a hybrid-work model on Feb. 1, 2022, according to The Verge, and those plans had already been pushed back.
Many of tech's biggest players have taken similar approaches to the work-model shifts made necessary by Covid-19. At the start of the pandemic, Google and Facebook offered their employees $1,000 bonuses to cover work-from-home costs, and Lyft, Uber and Amazon have also had to delay their return-to-office dates multiple times.
Apple's most recent push-back isn't its first precaution in the face of new Covid-19 developments. Earlier this week, Apple reinstated a mask mandate at all of its U.S. stores and has already shuttered three of them because of the rise in cases.
Related: Apple to Require Daily Covid Tests for Unvaccinated Employees
