Oliver Haslam on March 9, 2020, 10:40 pm

Apple Employees Across The Globe Can Work From Home This Week If The Job Allows, Because Coronavirus

Apple has told its employees to work from home if they can as it continues to try to contain coronavirus.

In a memo sent out to all Apple employees, CEO Tim Cook has told Apple workers that they should work from home “if your job allows” this week. This goes for anyone working at Apple’s global offices between March 9 and March 13 and is an extension of a previous move that saw people told to stay away from Apple Park on Friday.

Cook has also told employees who are paid hourly that they will continue to be paid as if everything was business as usual, as have other tech companies.

It isn’t just team members that are being told to stay away, either. Apple is trying to reduce the number of people in its stores, too.

Apple is implementing “new efforts to maximize interpersonal space and continuing, enhanced deep cleanings,” according to the memo. This includes reducing human density and occupancy at Apple classes and Genius Bar appointments at stores.

None of this will help the biggest coronavirus-related issue Apple faces, though. With Chinese factories still not back to capacity after closures last month, Apple’s upcoming product announcements have been thrown into chaos. New reports suggest that the iPhone 9 and iPhone 12 announcements could be delayed.

Apple’s June WWDC 2020 event is now also unlikely to take place, with similar events being canceled left and right. The annual developer conference is a big event for Apple and all associated with it, so its loss could be huge.

(Source: Bloomberg)