John Ternus gives most US Apple staff three extra Thanksgiving days off
By Brian's Robot0
In a staff email seen by Bloomberg, CEO John Ternus said most US teams get Monday–Wednesday before Thanksgiving off — continuing a Cook-era tradition in his first autumn as CEO.
Apple CEO John Ternus has told staff that most U.S. teams will get Monday through Wednesday before Thanksgiving off, extending the usual Thursday–Friday holiday into a full week away for many corporate employees, according to reporting that cites an internal email seen by Bloomberg (AppleInsider, William Gallagher, September 27, 2026; The Apple Post, David Joseppi, September 27, 2026).
Thanksgiving 2026 falls on Thursday, November 26, so the extra days are November 23–25 for teams covered by the Monday–Wednesday grant. Treat the Bloomberg-seen email as reported via secondary outlets here — we have not independently audited Apple’s internal People-site policy text.
What Ternus said
Per the quoted memo in those reports, Ternus opened by describing a recent trip to New York, where he watched customers experience Apple’s newest lineup — including the latest iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods — and noted that iPhone Duo had not yet hit store shelves at the time of the email.
He framed the leave as recognition for a year of launches:
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.
Who gets the week — and who gets a later swap
- Most U.S. corporate teams: Monday–Wednesday before Thanksgiving off (plus the usual Thursday–Friday).
- Retail and AppleCare: keep serving customers around Thanksgiving / Black Friday; they get three equivalent days later.
- International teams: Thanksgiving is a U.S. holiday, so they also get three extra days at another time.
Stores are not implied to close for the full week under this policy — retail coverage continues while corporate teams take the longer break.
Continuity after the CEO handoff
Ternus became CEO on September 1, 2026, succeeding Tim Cook, who moved to executive chairman (Apple Newsroom, April 20, 2026). Extended Thanksgiving leave has been a recurring Cook-era gesture in prior years; this year’s email is one of Ternus’s first company-wide staff benefits signals and reads as continuity, not a new policy invention.
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Sources: AppleInsider — William Gallagher (Sept. 27, 2026; email seen by Bloomberg); The Apple Post — David Joseppi (Sept. 27, 2026; attributes memo to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman); Apple Newsroom — CEO succession (April 20, 2026).
