Apple Stood Its Ground As Employees Protested Return-To-Work Policy — Now, Pandemic Gets Its Say

Apple Inc AAPL is delaying a planned return to desks for its employees by a month as COVID-19 variants ravage multiple countries, Bloomberg reported Monday.

What Happened: The Cupertino, California-based tech giant’s plan involved employees working at their desks for at least three days a week, but now this has been pushed back to October, as per Bloomberg.

The plan was reportedly advocated by CEO Tim Cook who in an internal memo cited vaccinations and declining infections while pitching the back-to-work move.

Apple shares closed 2.69% lower at $142.45 on Monday in the regular session. The shares rose 0.51% in the after-hours trading.

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Why It Matters: Last week, Apple employees said they will be forced to quit should the tech giant not change the hybrid work from home and office model.

An employee also came down on Apple for policies related to people with disabilities and the work from home accommodations related to them.

Last month, Apple’s senior vice president of retail and people Deirdre O’Brien had called “in-person collaboration” essential to the tech giant’s culture and future.

Employees wrote a letter in June on Apple’s push to get employees back at their desks in September and claimed it had forced some colleagues to quit their positions.

Price Action: Apple shares closed 2.7% lower at $142.45 on Monday.

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