Apple pushes back office return until at least January 2022

pple has pushed back its mandatory return to the office until January 2022 at the earliest.

The tech giant had initially told staff around the world to head back to corporate offices for three days per week from September, and then from October.

The new date was announced via a memo from Apple’s HR chief, which cited rising Covid cases in the US and concerns over new variants, Bloomberg reported.

HR and retail head, Deirdre O’Brien, said Apple did not currently expect to close either its retail stores or its offices, and encouraged staff to get vaccinated.

Apple is to give employees at least one month’s notice before lifting its global work-from-home policy. The company’s offices, including its London site, are open for staff who need to be there.

Apple is the latest in a string of global corporations, including fellow tech firms Amazon and Facebook, to delay the great office return until 2022. This will mean some employees will have worked from home for two years.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.