Tim Cook Thanks Apple Employees for Outstanding 2012 with Extended Thanksgiving Vacation Time

Just as he did last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent an email to company employees thanking them for a successful year and letting them know that they will be receiving the entire week of Thanksgiving in the United States off in order to spend more time with their families. The extra holiday days of November 19-21 are being given with pay. 9to5Mac has the full letter.

Team,

Apple is having another incredibly successful year, thanks to all of the hard work by you and your teams. Your focus and dedication to making the best products on earth is what makes Apple such an incredible place.

In a little over six months we’ve launched outstanding new products in each of our major categories, starting with the new iPad this spring. The response was incredible, and continued to show Apple’s unrivaled leadership in this post-PC era. Over the summer we introduced the radically thin and light 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina display, and shipped Mountain Lion, the fastest-selling update to OS X ever. Today, iPhone 5 is taking the world by storm. And in the next few weeks we’ll ship the new iPod touch and completely redesigned iPod nano with innovative designs that our customers are going to love this holiday season.

To recognize the efforts that made this amazing year possible, I’m happy to announce that we’re extending the Thanksgiving holiday once again this year. We will shut down with pay on November 19, 20 and 21 so our teams can spend the whole week with their loved ones.

Retail and some other teams will need to work that week so we can continue to serve our customers, but please check with your manager about taking time off at a later date. Our international teams will also get an extra three days off during this quarter, scheduled at a time that’s best for them. Details will be available on AppleWeb.

Thank you for everything you do for Apple and please enjoy this much deserved break.

As with last year's vacation time, retail store employees will need to stagger their extra days off in order to keep stores open for the public, and international corporate employees will receive their time off at times convenient for them, as they do not necessarily need to coincide with the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.