Tim Cook to address Covid-19 questions at company-wide Q&A

Apple Inc. is organizing a company-wide virtual meeting for later this month to allow employees to ask questions of the executive team led by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.

The company sent a note to employees advising them of the plan on Wednesday in the U.S., which Bloomberg News has reviewed. It asked that questions be submitted by end of day on Saturday and also encouraged workers to share their experiences of working through the disruption to daily life that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about. The specific date of the meeting has not yet been disclosed.

Apple has had to adapt quickly to a work-from-home culture it previously shunned. The inherent need for security while working on unannounced products has historically made remote work impractical for the iPhone maker's designers and engineers.

Among its measures to smooth out work and life disruptions brought on by the novel coronavirus, Apple has put a particular focus on helping parents cope. The company is "working on options to make sure parents have the support and the flexibility to adjust their schedules as needed," according to a note to employees from Senior Vice President of Retail and People Deirdre O'Brien. Apple is aware "many parents are balancing homeschooling with working" and is encouraging employees to be open with management about their challenges, O'Brien wrote.

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The public response to the pandemic from the Cupertino, California-based tech giant has been led by its CEO. Cook has been providing video updates on Apple's procurement and donation efforts for medical equipment on social media. Putting the company's supply chain expertise to work, Cook said Apple's "design, engineering, operations and packaging teams are also working with suppliers to design, produce and ship face shields for medical workers."

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