Apple's new CEO is continuing a tradition established by his predecessor: Most US teams get the entire week around Thanksgiving off, with full pay. Employees outside the US don't miss out entirely – their three days off just come later.
John Ternus, CEO since September 1st, announced the additional days off via email to employees. Bloomberg published the text of the email in its Apple newsletter of September 27th.
It's the first gesture of this kind under the new boss. Under Tim Cook, such gestures were a regular occurrence since his first autumn as CEO, hence the familiar tone of the email.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Most US teams have an additional day off from Monday to Wednesday before Thanksgiving, this year November 23rd to 25th.
- Together with Thanksgiving and the following Friday, this makes for a full week off.
- Retail, AppleCare, and international teams will receive three additional days at a later date.
- Tim Cook first introduced the week off in 2011, shortly after taking office.
What Ternus writes
Ternus begins with the launch of the new devices, which he experienced in New York. He mentions the most advanced camera ever in an iPhone, the health features of the Apple Watch, and the sound of the new AirPods – and notes that the iPhone Duo isn't even on sale yet.
Such moments are only possible because teams across Apple work toward the same goal every day. The year has been full of milestones, so everyone deserves a break. Employees are encouraged to use this time to unwind and spend time with family and friends. Details are available on the internal employee portal.
Who gets time off when
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26th this year. Most US teams will therefore have time off from November 23rd to 29th – Thursday and Friday are already common holidays in US companies, and Apple adds the three days before that on top.
| Group | Additional days off |
|---|---|
| Most US teams | November 23-25, 2026 |
| Retail and AppleCare | three days at a later date |
| International teams | three days at a later date |
The exception for Retail and AppleCare has an obvious reason: The week ends with Black Friday, which marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. Stores and customer service need to be staffed at that time.
Three days also for the teams in Europe
The international teams are explicitly included. This also benefits Apple employees in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland – from the development center in Munich to the Apple Stores. Thanksgiving is not a holiday here, so the three days do not fall within the US work week but are taken later.
This arrangement is not new. Cook's email from October 2011 already stipulated that international teams should schedule their three days in the same quarter at a time that best suited them. Cook repeated this same pattern in subsequent years, as evidenced by 2013 and 2014.
Continuity instead of a break with the Cook era
The email follows almost the same pattern Cook introduced, sentence for sentence: first a look at the fall products, then the thanks, then the three days with the same exceptions. This is typical of a CEO who doesn't want to overhaul Apple, but rather maintains the tried and tested processes.
The gesture isn't entirely without context, however. Competition for experienced people is fierce in the industry, and OpenAI, according to its own figures, now employs more than 400 former Apple employees. Continuing a tradition that the workforce has known for years costs little and signals that the change in leadership will not negatively impact working conditions.
How important are such gestures to you when evaluating an employer – do three extra days off count for more than a bonus of the same amount? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
