Apple Is Latest Major Company To Delay Office Return Amid Covid Spike - Forbes

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Topline

Apple has pushed back the start date for a mandatory return to its offices until at least next year and will give employees a month’s notice before any return, making the iPhone maker the latest major company to delay back-to-office plans as coronavirus infections rise across the country.

Key Facts

Apple pushed back its mandatory office return to January 2022 at the earliest (its stores will remain open), according to a memo sent to employees, extending the company’s previously extended deadline that would have seen workers back in the office in October.

It’s far from the first company to delay its start date for going back to the office: Microsoft earlier this month said it would delay reopening its offices from early September until at least Oct. 4.

Amazon corporate staff will not return to the office until at least Jan. 3, the company said, four months after its initial goal to have staff back by early September and just two months shy of the two-year anniversary of when the coronavirus pandemic sent many American white-collar workers home.

The policy applies to office staff in other countries as well as its 60,000 employees in the Seattle area, according to the Seattle Times, which first reported the news.

Google said it would also extend its voluntary work-from-home period until Oct. 18 after initially telling employees to plan to be back in the office by September.

Uber also postponed its return to the office from late October until September, while Lyft employees aren’t expected to be back working in-person until February 2021.

Key Background

After months of declining coronavirus infections, the U.S. is reporting around 133,000 new cases a day based on a seven-day rolling average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The surge is driven by the delta variant of Covid-19, a more contagious strain that is now the dominant coronavirus mutation circulating within the country. Companies like Microsoft, Facebook and Google have announced they’ll require employees to be vaccinated against coronavirus before resuming in-person work at offices.