AppleCEO Tim Cook said Wednesday that employees should return to the office at least three days a week starting in early September.

According to a memo obtained by the media, Cook said the iPhone maker was urging employees to return to the office on at least Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, with the option of working remotely on Wednesday and Friday.

'We set consistent dates to help us optimize the time for face-to-face collaboration, 'Mr. Cook wrote. Some teams have to go back to the office four to five days a week.

In pushing employees back to the office, Cook mentioned the decline in vaccination availability and infection rates. Some employees of the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant worked in the office for some days throughout the outbreak. Thousands of other employees have been out of the office for more than a year.

Mr Cook said many Apple teams in the Asia-Pacific region had returned to offices and factories and that the rest of the closed retail stores would reopen this month. He had previously told employees that they might return to the office as early as June, but the company postponed it until September a few weeks ago.

With the approval of the managers, employees will be given an additional two weeks of telecommuting opportunities each year.

In his letter, Cook said the return to the office was a "pilot" program that would be re-evaluated in 2022. The Verge reported Apple's plans earlier Wednesday.