Apple has delayed its return to the office once again until a “date yet to be determined.” The plan was to begin hybrid working from February 1, 2022, but the onset of the Omicron Covid-19 variant has prompted the change.
Apple Return to Office Date ‘Yet to be Determined’
CEO Tim Cook told employees that Apple return to office plans were delayed in a memo sent Wednesday, seen by Bloomberg News:
We are delaying the start of our hybrid work pilot to a date yet to be determined. Our offices remain open and many of our colleagues are coming in regularly, including our teams in Greater China and elsewhere.
Apple’s return to the office had proved contentious. Some employees were unhappy about the plans, which the company adjusted on various occasions.
More Retail Outlets Close Due to Covid
Elsewhere, the company has had to close three retail outlets in the U.S. and Canada as a result of Covid outbreaks. The closures in the Brickell City Centre, Miami; Annapolis, Maryland; and downtown Ottawa follow the recent temporary shutdown in Southlake, Texas.
In a statement given to Bloomberg News, an Apple spokesperson said:
We regularly monitor conditions and we will adjust our health measures to support the well-being of customers and employees. We remain committed to a comprehensive approach for our teams that combines regular testing with daily health checks, employee and customer masking, deep cleaning and paid sick leave.
Charlotte:
In a pandemic, no population is an island, and the longer the majority of the planet remains non-vaccinated, this virus will continue to adapt for human circulation, just like influenza did aeons ago, and circulate with ever greater efficiency.
We continue to suffer a disconnect between the sub-herd immunity level vaccination in high income countries, which although higher than in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, remains insufficient to interrupt viral transmission, and other mitigation measures that contribute to interrupting transmission, like masking, handwashing and social distancing.
The West seems unable to resist taking a ‘W’ moment; pumping their fists and declaring ‘mission accomplished’. Each time we resume pre-pandemic behaviour patterns, like crowding into office spaces or other collective centres, we get the same result, a surge in cases, hospitalisations and deaths. What was it that Einstein said about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
The virus does not care about our time tables or our feelings. It will relentlessly exploit transmission-enabling behaviour. Apple are right to put this on hold.
If we are lucky, because we are certainly neither smart nor strategic in addressing this pandemic, the virus will achieve maximum fitness for human transmission, seasonally spreading efficiently with minimal mortality sooner rather than later, like it does in bats.
We clearly seem willing to purchase that ticket with as many human lives as necessary. The good news is that, given that humans now exceed 7B and counting, there is an ample supply.