Tim Cook urges Apple staff to work remotely, but only if job scope allows

Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent out a memo to Apple staff at some of their global offices to encourage working from home, or working remotely. The folks over at Bloomberg managed to get their hands on the memo, where Cook reportedly encourages Apple workers at several global offices to work remotely. It doesn’t appear to be blanket policy for all employees within those offices, however:

“Please feel free to work remotely if your job allows.”

Cook sent out the memo to regions that are most affected by the outbreak, which include offices in California, Japan, Italy, South Korea, the UK, France, Germany, and Switzerland. This comes amid a growing COVID-19 outbreak—109,795 cases have been confirmed over 104 countries, 3,803 deaths reported globally.

Apple is also pushing efforts to “reduce human density” so that their workers can be productive in a safe environment and with “peace of mind” with more interpersonal space. Those who have fevers or bouts of cough should also stay home until they have recovered—and to follow quarantine protocols.

But this isn’t the only impact that the coronavirus outbreak has had on the California-based company, or other major players in the technology industry. All of their Apple Stores and corporate offices in mainland China were shut down earlier, although the temporary closures have since ended.

Apple has also warned its investors of a possible iPhone shortage due to the effect of the outbreak on the manufacturing sector—the iPhone is the largest revenue driver for Apple.

The outbreak is continuing to grow, with numbers around the globe increasing. As it stands, Malaysia has reported 99 confirmed cases nationwide, with no deaths reported at the time of writing. Thankfully, the development of technology means that even with remote working arrangements, productivity can still continue. Cloud-based solutions and improved broadband speeds mean that collaborative efforts can still be worked on remotely—although it’s undeniable that productivity in general will certainly be affected.

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