Back in 2020, Apple decided to push a huge lockdown across its offices and switch to a remote work model. The goal was to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus as there weren’t vaccines back at that point. The company employees had to adapt to the remote work. But after a few constraints, the company was able to keep things flowing. Now, however, the virus is pretty much controlled across the world, except for China. So it’s natural to see the life “returning to a normal state”. Apple employees in the United States began to return to the office after a two-year work-from-home policy. Currently working in the office one day a week. However, from May 23, employees will be required to be in the office at least three days a week. Apparently, the company’s employees aren’t happy with the return of the normality.
According to a fresh report from 9to5Mac, some employees don’t seem to want to go back to the office just yet. The men advocate for the well-being and rights of employees under a group called “Apple Together”. Recently, the employees urged leadership to be more flexible. They sent a letter to the leadership on the Apple Together website on Friday. As per the letter, the employees believe that telecommuting can still be used.
“How do we (Apple) tell all our customers how powerful our products are for telecommuting, but we can’t use them for telecommuting ourselves, so what do customers think? If we don’t actually experience it, how can we find out what problems are with the products under remote office?
Honestly, the above part of the text almost sounds like an employee giving a weird and funny excuse to their boss. It’s hilarious and ironic at the same time. Additionally, the letter states that commuting is a “waste of time and mental and physical resources”, as well as arguments about the impact of hybrid models on employee diversity. “This will make Apple younger, whiter and more male-dominated” and will lead to “a privilege that determines who can work for Apple, not who is best suited”.
“Or as Steve Jobs said: ‘It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. We hire smart people and they can tell us what to do. ‘We’re smart people you hire and we’re telling you what to do: there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, let’s decide how best to work, let’s do the best work of our lives.”
Worth noting, that several companies have implemented work-from-home policies for some employees. However, Apple is not among them. The Cupertino-based firm made it clear that employees will eventually need to return to on-site work and collaboration. Honestly, with all the investment made at Apple Campus, we can understand why the company does not want it to be a big desert.
Apple is about to face another complicated situation with the US government. Now, let’s see how the company will deal with this situation involving its employees.
