Apple Offering Staff Bonuses To Travel To China Amid Pandemic

Apple is offering staff huge daily bonuses to travel to China and work there, a report says.

The Cupertino tech giant is lifting its travel restrictions and is now sending staff and employees to its manufacturing partners in China amid the COVID-19 problem.

To encourage its workers to fly to the Asian country, Apple is giving them $500 per day as a bonus for simply going, The Information reported, citing several unnamed sources who are either current or former Apple employees or people working for the Cupertino-based company’s partners.

Apple has resumed sending its U.S.-based employees to China to work with the companies responsible for manufacturing most of its devices, such as iPhones, iPads and Macs, according to The Information.

Apple resumed such activities in recent months, the report said. It started sending employees to China during summer. More recently in September, the company emailed its manufacturing and design staff about the changes it made to its travel guidelines before actually sending more people over to the Asian country in October.

Part of the changes involved requiring workers to stay in China for at least six weeks. Staff previously flew in and out and had multiple 10-day trips at a time. The current scenario, however, requires them to stay in quarantine facilities for two weeks at a time. The remaining four weeks will be spent working with Apple’s partners.

While the idea of voluntarily going away for six weeks, and staying in quarantine for two weeks, might be quite unappealing to some, Apple’s promised bonus may make it bearable – even desirable – for those who are looking to earn more.

As mentioned, Apple is giving $500 per day as a bonus for all staff who volunteer to go to China to work there, though there’s more to it than just this. According to two of The Information’s sources, this daily bonus is over and above the daily expense the company provides for business travel.

Simply put, Apple staff will earn $7,000 for volunteering to stay in quarantine and more for the remainder of their stay in China.