After a months-long battle, Apple is removing a deadline for its plans to return to the office.

It’s been a bumpy ride for Apple’s plans to return to the office. We’ve been reporting a plethora of shutdowns and restarts over the past few months, but according to a report from Bloomberg, the industry giant appears to have reached its toughest stop yet.

Cook wrote in a memo that the delay was due to “an increase in cases in many parts of the world”as well as “the emergence of a new strain of the virus.”He called the change of plans a delay, not a cancellation. Employees will be notified at least four weeks before the new return date to the office, he said.

He also said that Apple would give each employee a $1,000 bonus. While the money is meant to help them with their “home workplace”, Cooke added that the money “can be used as you see fit”. The bonus will also go to retail workers, with Cooke saying the bonus is “in support of our commitment to a more flexible environment.”

To date, Apple has been more aggressive in rejecting long-term, completely remote options than many other big tech companies with a large presence in Silicon Valley.

While Twitter and other companies have implemented new post-COVID-19 policies that in many cases could allow employees to work from home permanently, Apple management has pushed for a hybrid model: Some days will be spent in the office, but employees will be able to take certain days off. week, as well as an annual allowance for working from home.

A group of company employees came together to promote a more liberal long-term policy. In some cases, employees simply want to be able to spend more time at home for childcare, personal mental health, or other reasons. But in some others, people want to move outside the expensive cities where Apple’s largest offices are located.

However, the challenges Apple faces are not unique. Other big tech companies have also repeatedly delayed their plans to return to the office, and for now, many employees at companies like Apple and Microsoft are still working completely remotely. It seems that in the next couple of months the situation will not change significantly.