Calling the coronavirus epidemic an “unprecedented event,” Apple CEO Tim Cook encourages employees at several of its global offices to “feel free to work remotely if your work permits” from 9 to March 13, Bloomberg reports.
Cook has sent a note to employees that extends Apple’s previous arrangements for working from home for certain Apple employees in California and the Seattle area. He said in the memo that the company “is making a major effort to reduce human density” and that the remote work policy will apply to offices in “areas with higher density of infections”.
In addition to Seattle, the list includes Apple headquarters in the Santa Clara Valley and Elk Grove regions of California, as well as offices in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and in the UK, according to Bloomberg.
Hourly workers at affected Apple offices around the world “will continue to receive compensation in accordance with normal business activities,” said the memo.
Last month, Apple temporarily closed all of its retail stores in China due to the coronavirus outbreak (some have already reopened), and the company has limited employee travel to the hardest-hit areas, including the China, Italy and South Korea.
Apple told investors in a February 17 note that due to the impact of the coronavirus, the company did not expect to meet its revenue forecasts for the second quarter. He warned that “the global iPhone offering will be temporarily limited”.
