Apple: Full return of employees to U.S. offices won’t occur before year end

Apple says the full return of employees to the company’s U.S. offices won’t occur before year end due to COVID-19.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:

In a video shared with Apple retail employees over the weekend, Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of retail and people, pressed employees working at stores that have closed again to begin working from home to serve customers buying or seeking support for products online or over the phone.

Of Apple’s 271 U.S. retail locations, more than 90 have had to close again due to Covid-19 spikes. The company has also shut some stores again in the U.K. and Australia. For locations that remain open, the company is requiring face masks for customers and employees as well as temperature checks upon entry…

The company has also shared new information on its plan to return to offices. In a memo to staff last month, the company said, “We currently do not anticipate a full return before the end of the year” for offices in the Americas, but that it does “anticipate full resumption will take place over the coming months based on local conditions” for “many” offices in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.

MacDailyNews Take: Expect retail openings and closing to continue to be malleable as the CVOVID-19 conditions fluctuate in areas worldwide.