Apple has no plans of calling its employees back to office before June 2021 as the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down, leave alone vanish. Facebook will also call back its employees during the same time, and has shared that vaccination will not be a precondition for returning to office.
Apple hasn’t mentioned whether it expects its employees to be vaccinated before returning to office. Even though the news of vaccines is doing the rounds, it is to be seen whether companies will make it mandatory for employees to be vaccinated before returning to office, especially at a time when most, including Facebook, are seriously considering WFH as a permanent option.
Tim Cook, CEO, Apple, in a virtual team meeting had indicated that even though virtual meetings were no match for face-to-face interactions, remote working did manage to yield the same results. The Company is learning to deal with WFH and is undergoing transformation in line with the changing scenario. Currently, the California-based tech giant’s office in Cupertino is operating with 15 per cent employees in office.
Meanwhile, a part of Facebook’s workforce has returned to office in countries where COVID-19 cases are lower. However, employees have the option to work from home until June 2021 after which, they may return to office, amidst a number of safety protocols that will be set in place.
Facebook offices have been shut since March. In May, the Company had announced an optional permanent work from home policy. A detailed remote-working plan had also been laid out, wherein half of the Company’s workforce will work from home by 2030.
