90% of respondents in Apple employee-made survey want remote work option
Many Apple employees want the ability to work from home and are concerned about colleagues leaving if in-office work is required, according to an internal survey designed by staffers.
Credit: Apple
Nearly 90% of respondents to the survey, which was distributed in June, said that they "strongly agree" with the statement that "location-flexible working options are a very important issue to me." Staffers defined "location-flexible" as the ability to work from home indefinitely.
According to The Verge, which obtained the survey, the question about work arrangements was answered by 1,749 people. It was reportedly sent out in a Slack channel created to discuss remote work.
About 58.5% of respondents also said they were concerned about colleagues leaving because of non-flexible work arrangements, while 36.7% said they're worried they would have to leave the company.
Designed as a grassroots effort by Apple employees, the staffers sent the results of the survey to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple people chief Deirdre O'Brien on June 14. They included a video with personal testimonies from 24 Apple workers.
Back in June, Cook announced a plan for employees to return to in-office work for three days a week starting in September. Some Apple staffers penned a letter to Cook and Apple leadership pleading for more flexible options.
On June 30, weeks after the letter was sent, O'Brien released an internal video that doubled-down on the hybrid work model, stating that "in-person collaboration is essential" to Apple's culture and future.
While Apple is not doing away with in-person work arrangements, it does appear to moving forward with hybrid models. Later in 2021, the company will test a hybrid work model for retail employees that will see them conducting remote customer service and technical support tasks in weeks when they aren't working in a store.
Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast -- and get a fast news update from AppleInsider Daily. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too.If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.
Credit: Apple
Nearly 90% of respondents to the survey, which was distributed in June, said that they "strongly agree" with the statement that "location-flexible working options are a very important issue to me." Staffers defined "location-flexible" as the ability to work from home indefinitely.
According to The Verge, which obtained the survey, the question about work arrangements was answered by 1,749 people. It was reportedly sent out in a Slack channel created to discuss remote work.
About 58.5% of respondents also said they were concerned about colleagues leaving because of non-flexible work arrangements, while 36.7% said they're worried they would have to leave the company.
Designed as a grassroots effort by Apple employees, the staffers sent the results of the survey to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple people chief Deirdre O'Brien on June 14. They included a video with personal testimonies from 24 Apple workers.
Back in June, Cook announced a plan for employees to return to in-office work for three days a week starting in September. Some Apple staffers penned a letter to Cook and Apple leadership pleading for more flexible options.
On June 30, weeks after the letter was sent, O'Brien released an internal video that doubled-down on the hybrid work model, stating that "in-person collaboration is essential" to Apple's culture and future.
While Apple is not doing away with in-person work arrangements, it does appear to moving forward with hybrid models. Later in 2021, the company will test a hybrid work model for retail employees that will see them conducting remote customer service and technical support tasks in weeks when they aren't working in a store.
Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast -- and get a fast news update from AppleInsider Daily. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too.If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.
Comments
"While Apple is not doing away with in-person work arrangements, it does appear to moving forward with hybrid models. Later in 2021, the company will test a hybrid work modelfor retail employees that will see them conducting remote customer service and technical support tasks in weeks when they aren't working in a store.”
So customers with issues will no longer be able to make an appointment to speak with a Genius face-to-face? What if face-to-face appointments are limited becasue not enough reps are in the store to handle them? Then why even visit the store?
Companies remote working causes irritation for me - as a customer - it is clear to me that most people are not suited to remote working as you need a really good appreciation of how all parts of your company/organisation works. Just doing your job causes many difficulties for the customer - the connection to important other parts of the company and people are broken.
Having said all the above - knowing that the companies you are dealing with are at “sixes and sevens” can actually give us, the customer an advantage.
I would advise all companies to be very careful who they allow to remote work - most people are not good at it, and in all likelihood your systems are not good enough.
Dont wanna work? Quit. You’ll be home all day!
A couple of weeks ago she made the trip to the office so she could physically meet with her team, which hadn’t happened before as some of her team members were added during the pandemic. A few days later she did it again to meet with other people that she had previously only met via videoconference.
In both cases she was mildly surprised at how much better it was to see and interact with people in person, rather than just via video. It really came to light for her how much better it is to be able to walk out of her office, down the hall and have a quick, one-off conversation with someone to resolve an issue or just figure something out.
She’s still working mostly remotely but likely spending more time in the office come September. At that time she plans to be remote a day or two a week and in the office the rest of the time.
Her major takeaway is that in-person work shouldn’t be minimized, as for her there are clearly benefits, and remote work shouldn’t be someone’s sole option. Obviously, things will be different across different industries.
Now it’s true that blue collar workers and some white collar workers do have to go into work, but I’m surprised by your claim the “vast majority” of people in the USA fall into that category. You’re implying the USA workforce has less professional positions that other similar economies. I doubt that.
I can say from first hand experience that these companies need to get their workers back into the offices and out of their shared home. The normal day to day numerous work meetings, rushed deadlines, conflicts, problem solving and in the case of Apple and probably others tech company “black ops project” requirements are to disruptive for even the most patience of spouses, roommates and homes. Nothing more bothersome for most guy than having some jerk at your spouses work remotely yanked her chain while she is in the home!
While I do agree that they are some and their spouses who relish the freedom of remote work, I can guarantee there are far more who just want their home back!
A home is where most go to escape all things in the outside world especially WORK!