Apple asks employees to return to the office in September: RPT

Apple is asking employees to return to the office three days a week beginning in September, according to The Verge. Yahoo Finance’s Akiko Fujita and Zack Guzman discuss.

Video transcript

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AKIKO FUJITA: Apple CEO, Tim Cook, is calling on employees to return to the office this fall. In a letter sent out to employees earlier this week, he outlined a hybrid schedule moving forward where employees would be allowed to-- will be required to come into the office three days a week, and then have the option of working from home for two days a week. Employees also have the option to work remotely for up to two weeks a year to, in Apple's words, "be closer to family and friends" as well.

And Zack, you know, I'm thinking back to the conversations we were having last fall about how the office environment will never be the same. So much of it's going to be remote. We've seen a lot of companies shift since then. That last part of this work environment that Apple's laid out is an interesting one for me, because I think the two weeks away from work, being able to work remotely, seems to be a good compromise for those who don't necessarily want to go back all in, but kind of want to find a middle ground.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, I mean, let's not forget too, Apple poured a lot of money into their new campus out there in Cupertino, and of course, you got one being built in Austin as well. So, there's a lot of money to get people into some of these headquarters and offices out there. And other companies are caught in kind of a similar position, albeit, probably spent less money on whatever office upgrades they had pre-pandemic. But I think it is an important reminder here.

You know, we think so much about binary options here. They're all in the office or you're all out. And it's just a good reminder here the flexibility that could be offered by a company, like Apple, in this case, to say, look, you know, we want you mostly in the office, but feel free to take the flexibility.

I mean, work days and vacation days, Akiko, have been around for a long time. So, the idea of just having a virtual day, put in for a virtual day, maybe it's something that we'll see more companies here put into implementation, because you know, people like that flexibility. [INAUDIBLE] get away with it.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, I mean, we've heard of cases of some employees though who are saying that if they have to come back into the office, they'd rather quit, because they've gotten so used to remote work too. So, it feels like increasingly it's-- it's, you know, a bit of a debate that's happening internally, but we'll have to see. I would like to take a virtual day, I think. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to call for a virtual day once we all get back into the office. It's been nice to have some flexibility.

ZACK GUZMAN: It has been nice, and we've got an early preview. You and I are both out tomorrow, but we've got an early preview of our poll live right now on our Twitter right now. Pretty much locked 50-50 when it comes to whether or not it would be worth giving up your job if you're required to go back into the office and give up that flexibility. So, that polls still open. We'll have the results tomorrow on the show, but you can vote now on Twitter.