New Apple CEO John Ternus has told staff that most US divisions will get the whole of Thanksgiving week off in recognition of their hard work.
It's oddly hard to confirm this, but some accounts say that Steve Jobs gave staff paid Thanksgiving leave at least once during his time as CEO. But what's certain is that Tim Cook did so for the very first Thanksgiving after he became CEO in 2011.
Now in an email to staff seen by Bloomberg, John Ternus has announced that the tradition will continue. Specifically, alongside the regular Thursday and Friday that firms have, Apple is giving staff Monday to Friday instead:
Last week in New York, I had the chance to see customers discover for themselves what we already know: Our newest products are incredible! From the most advanced camera ever in an iPhone to intelligent health features in Apple Watch to the amazing listening experience of our latest Air Pods, it was so wonderful to see the joy in people's faces as they experienced our new lineup for the very first time. And that's before iPhone Duo even hits the shelves.
It takes an extraordinary amount of work to make moments like this possible. It takes teams across Apple all driving toward the same goal, every single day. This year has been filled with remarkable milestones, and for all your hard work, you deserve a break.
In recognition of your contributions, most US teams will get the Monday through Wednesday before Thanksgiving off. If you're part of our Retail and AppleCare teams who serve our customers, or international teams, you'll be able to take three extra days off at a later date. You can find all the details on the People site.
I'm so grateful for this amazing team, and I hope you'll use this time away to unwind, recharge, and spend time with loved ones. As I've said, this is an incredibly exciting time to be at Apple. And I can't wait for what's next.
Once anything like this is established in a large corporation, staff do come to expect it so they won't have been surprised by the news. But they may well have been relieved.
That's because there have been efforts to stop the tradition. There was even pressure on Tim Cook to keep retail stores open on Thanksgiving itself.
The logic there was that it would potentially mean a hugely profitable day for Apple Stores, and in the early 2010s multiple US retailers stayed open. For Macys, Walmart, Sears, and more, opening their stores meant benefiting from the holiday sales rush that normally starts on the following Black Friday.
Apple even tried this in 2012 with the Fifth Avenue store, Hawaii's one on Waikiki Beach, and a Las Vegas store opened. For 2013, more were initially planned to open, but Tim Cook vetoed the plan.
