Tim Cook Offers Work From Home to Most Apple Staff Amid Coronavirus Concerns

Apple CEO Tim Cook has today offered employees at most of its global offices the ability to work from home, and announced new policies in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

1400x 1Image via David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Employees at several global offices have been told to "feel free to work remotely if your job allows,” for the week of March 9 to 13, according to an internal memo that was obtained by Bloomberg and later confirmed by an Apple spokesman.

This extends the company’s policy from Friday, which encouraged employees in California and Seattle to work remotely, to almost all of Apple's corporate locations in South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the U.K.

In addition to this, Apple is now implementing new efforts to expand deep cleaning procedures and maximize interpersonal space. Fewer places will be available at Today at Apple sessions and the Genius Bar to reduce human density in Apple stores.

On the corporate side, Apple is rolling out managerial changes to prevent the spread of coronavirus for employees who still have to come in due to the demands of their work.

In line with other major tech companies, Apple has guaranteed that it will continue to pay hourly contract workers their normal wages globally.

Apple has been significantly impacted by the coronavirus given its global presence and supply chain based in China, resulting in major stock price fluctuation. There have been reports of iPhone shortages and analysts predict that the upcoming 5G iPhone may now be delayed.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
New MacBook Pros Launching Tomorrow With These 4 New Features 2

M5 MacBook Models to Use New Compact Camera Module in 2025

Wednesday July 17, 2024 2:58 am PDT by
Apple in 2025 will take on a new compact camera module (CCM) supplier for future MacBook models powered by its next-generation M5 chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Writing in his latest investor note on unny-opticals-2025-business-momentum-to-benefit-509819818c2a">Medium, Kuo said Apple will turn to Sunny Optical for the CCM in its M5 MacBooks. The Chinese optical lens company...
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...

Top Rated Comments

kasakka Avatar
57 months ago
As a developer it is unfathomable for me at this point to not be able to work from wherever I want. Of course I go to the office or client's office if they want me there or for meetings but for most office jobs there should not be a restriction that you have to sit at your designated office cubicle every day of the week.

By being able to work from home I can take a more relaxed breakfast as I don't have to get dressed up and commute and also start to work earlier which means I can stop working earlier too, leaving me with more free time to spend on my hobbies which leads to less stress.

Working from home all the time is not good for mental health though as you do need to get out and talk to people from time to time. But it's important to have the option. Apple is offering what should be a standard way to work in an office environment.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
57 months ago

Just for the week? That’s nice, but they should maybe do it for the remainder of the month considering infections are only increasing.

It’s too bad that people go to work despite being sick because they don’t have sick hours available and have to make money. Oh the world we live in.
Presumably they will extend it as facts on the ground dictate.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Emanuel Rodriguez Avatar
57 months ago
All wise precautions. It's nice to see sane, rational thinking like this, given how much hysteria has been rampant lately.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newyorksole Avatar
57 months ago
Just for the week? That’s nice, but they should maybe do it for the remainder of the month considering infections are only increasing.

It’s too bad that people go to work despite being sick because they don’t have sick hours available and have to make money. Oh the world we live in.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
m0sher Avatar
57 months ago
This is a very productive tool to save money for companies who can because you’ll have less sick days and tax breaks from states who support this.

Not to mention environmental benefit, all the traffic and omissions you save by people not having to daily commute. As well as less oil dependency from other countries.

Skype your business meetings.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
57 months ago

Not in the vast majority of corporate and government jobs. Your supervisor/manager decides.
This is Apple, not whatever company you are talking about. They are not a government entity either, so not sure why you raise that.

In any event, in each of the four Silicon Valley companies I’ve worked at, the “it’s ok to work at home if need be” policy has always been based on the employee determining whether he or she can get his or her work done. After all, if so, why force them to come in?

sorry you are employed at a less rationally-run business.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)