Team Cook: "Remote Work Is a Huge Experiment... We Still Don't Know"

Apple CEO Tim Cook
Photo by Reuters

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Amid ongoing confusion over remote work and office returns that have spread due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that "we still don't fully understand remote work" and that a massive experiment is currently underway.

According to the U.S. economic media Business Insider on the 7th (local time), Cook stated at the TIME100 Symposium held in New York that the role of remote work has not yet been finalized. He said, "We are experimenting and trying to find the place where we can make the most of both worlds." He also mentioned that personally, he prefers face-to-face meetings but does not think video meetings are of poor quality; he just sees them as a different method.

He referred to video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Cisco Webex, saying the key will be to find a model that has strengths in both face-to-face and video work, and ultimately, the final model will be quite different from the way we currently operate. He added, "What we say at the starting point may be wrong, and this will be adjusted."

While refusing to comment on Apple’s plans for augmented reality that day, Cook said, "Technology is something that can enhance our conversations and connections, not replace them."

Earlier, Ian Goodfellow, an artificial intelligence (AI) expert, resigned in opposition to the company’s office return policy and moved to Google. Subsequently, Apple notified employees that it would suspend and postpone the implementation of its plan to increase office attendance days from twice a week to three times a week starting from the 23rd of last month. Apple cited the resurgence of COVID-19 as the reason, but it is interpreted that strong employee backlash influenced the decision.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.