What you need to know
- Apple is dropping its masking requirement for retail and corporate employees.
- Vaccinated corporate employees can still wear a mask but it is now optional.
- The company is also dropping mask requirements in a small number of retail stores.
The masks are coming off at Apple Retail and Corporate.
As reported by Bloomberg, Apple has begun to drop its mask requirements for both Apple Store and corporate employees. The company has reportedly informed its staff that it will begin to ease mask mandates for vaccinated employees in areas where COVID-19 cases are low and local mask mandates are being dropped.
Apple says that masks are now optional for corporate employees who are vaccinated and that some retail locations if cases are low and local mandates are removed, will now make masking optional for its Apple Store employees.
The company told staff that masks for vaccinated corporate employees are now optional at offices in regions where local indoor-mask mandates have been eliminated. It also told retail staff at a small number of locations that masks for employees will become optional on Friday. Over time -- as more regions drop their mandates and cases decline -- masks will become optional for employees at more locations.
The move comes shortly after the company announced that most of its retail stores in the United States would remove its mask requirements for its customers. It also announced earlier today that it is finally bringing Today at Apple back to the Apple Store.
The company has been attempting to get back to a sense of normalcy for more than a year now. It has planned to and rolled back COVID-19 restrictions before and, due to cases rising, had to abandon those plans. Hopefully, this latest easing of caution will be able to stick.
