Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent a memo to his employees detailing the “hybrid work pilot”. After multiple delays in return-to-office plans and quite a lot of resistance towards remote work, the Apple employees are all set to officially go back to the office from February 1st.

Employees learned of this news on Thursday through the internal memo circulated in Apple. The workers will be allowed to work from home 4 weeks a year which is a slight upgrade from the initially decided 2 weeks. 

Talking about the upgrade, Cook wrote,

“This provides more opportunity to travel, be closer to your loved ones, or simply shake up your routines”

Apple employees will return to offices February 1st in a hybrid work pilot https://t.co/frWG3DI0NU pic.twitter.com/mWvVqEGsDe

— The Verge (@verge) November 19, 2021

The hybrid work pilot will be implemented in the following order:

- In the first phase, the employees will return to the office for one or two days a week in February. 
- Then starting in March, employees will be required to work from the office on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 
- For that period, they can work from home on Wednesday and Friday. 
- Although, some employees might be asked to work from the office for 4-5 days, as their role requires more “in-person” coordination. 
 

The “hybrid work pilot” that was first announced in June has seen multiple delays in its onset. Shifting from return-to-office goals from September to October, then January. But now finally Apple is set to return to office in February, a move that might shift again depending on Covid 19 cases. 

After witnessing strong pushback from its employees against returning to the office and the hybrid model, it will be interesting to see how Apple is able to implement the first phase of the hybrid work pilot. Let us know your thoughts about this in the comments below.