Apple employees threaten to quit as company takes hard line stance on remote work
Apple employees claim the company is not budging on plans to institute a hybrid work model for corporate workers and is in some cases denying work-from-home exceptions, including one accommodation covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Citing an internal Slack thread, The Verge reports Apple employees are threatening to quit due to what they perceive as overly strict rules regarding remote work policies.
In June, Apple announced a hybrid work schedule that will see employees return to the office for three days a week starting in September, a shift toward normal corporate operations after the pandemic forced a lengthy work-from-home period. Days later, participants of what is assumed to be the same remote work advocacy Slack channel cited by The Verge asked more flexibility, saying that working from home brings a number of benefits including greater diversity and inclusion in retention and hiring, tearing down previously existing communication barriers, better work life balance, better integration of existing remote / location-flexible workers, and reduced spread of pathogens.
That request was flatly denied. In a video to employees late last month, SVP of retail and people Deirdre O'Brien toed the company line on remote work policies, saying, "We believe that in-person collaboration is essential to our culture and our future. If we take a moment to reflect on our unbelievable product launches this past year, the products and the launch execution were built upon the base of years of work that we did when we were all together in-person."
Apple's corporate ideology has long held that employee commingling is a vital ingredient to innovation. Late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs was such a proponent of the philosophy that he helped design Apple Park's main building -- effectively a large ring -- to facilitate serendipitous encounters.
With plans to enact the hybrid model moving forward, employees now claim Apple is denying exceptions to the in-office rule that it once allowed. For example, one unnamed employee who is currently allowed to work at home through an ADA accommodation said that Apple will deny the exception in September.
"I will be out of a job in September," the person wrote in the Slack channel that now has some 6,000 members.
Apple will apparently make exceptions for people with documented medical conditions, but acquiring that accommodation reportedly requires employees to confirm their status by releasing medical records to the company. The demand made some people uncomfortable, the report said.
Employees are now discussing how best to respond, whether it be through another letter or legal action. About 10 people plan to resign or know others who will resign due to the hybrid policy, the report said.
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Citing an internal Slack thread, The Verge reports Apple employees are threatening to quit due to what they perceive as overly strict rules regarding remote work policies.
In June, Apple announced a hybrid work schedule that will see employees return to the office for three days a week starting in September, a shift toward normal corporate operations after the pandemic forced a lengthy work-from-home period. Days later, participants of what is assumed to be the same remote work advocacy Slack channel cited by The Verge asked more flexibility, saying that working from home brings a number of benefits including greater diversity and inclusion in retention and hiring, tearing down previously existing communication barriers, better work life balance, better integration of existing remote / location-flexible workers, and reduced spread of pathogens.
That request was flatly denied. In a video to employees late last month, SVP of retail and people Deirdre O'Brien toed the company line on remote work policies, saying, "We believe that in-person collaboration is essential to our culture and our future. If we take a moment to reflect on our unbelievable product launches this past year, the products and the launch execution were built upon the base of years of work that we did when we were all together in-person."
Apple's corporate ideology has long held that employee commingling is a vital ingredient to innovation. Late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs was such a proponent of the philosophy that he helped design Apple Park's main building -- effectively a large ring -- to facilitate serendipitous encounters.
With plans to enact the hybrid model moving forward, employees now claim Apple is denying exceptions to the in-office rule that it once allowed. For example, one unnamed employee who is currently allowed to work at home through an ADA accommodation said that Apple will deny the exception in September.
"I will be out of a job in September," the person wrote in the Slack channel that now has some 6,000 members.
Apple will apparently make exceptions for people with documented medical conditions, but acquiring that accommodation reportedly requires employees to confirm their status by releasing medical records to the company. The demand made some people uncomfortable, the report said.
Employees are now discussing how best to respond, whether it be through another letter or legal action. About 10 people plan to resign or know others who will resign due to the hybrid policy, the report said.
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.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
This will be a great opportunity to cull some of the deadweight that has attached itself to the ship over the last five years
"...or legal action." LOL. Go ahead!
If you have a medical exemption then you gotta offer proof.
(and I don't mean simply profitable)
....can some do their best 'flow' work in the dark mode hours of the night...?
Is one key motivation, including meaningful work vs simply profitability and annual corporate calendar macOS cycle 'production'...?
for consideration: www.npr.org/2021/07/06/1013348626/iceland-finds-major-success-moving-to-shorter-work-week
Is this something an operations focussed leadership can understand...?
Headline:
"Apple employees threaten to quit”
Last sentence in the article:
"About 10 people plan to resign or know others who will resign due to the hybrid policy, the report said.
See what I mean. Squeaky wheels getting all the attention. And I’ll bet these employees are low level types, of little importance to the operation of the company, and easily replaced by those who want to work.
I suppose this is what you get when a generation or two have been deprived of exposure to world history, not to mention the concept of gratitude.
Most of our history lessons, however, are learned through life experience. And these young individuals at Apple are about to experience, as they say, a “teachable moment.“ Good luck to them.
The reason Apple wants to force every worker into being on site for a certain percentage of time probably has a lot more to do with making sure their insanely expensive building/campus isn’t sitting empty, because that would be embarrassing for a company that cares a lot about their image.
It’s been noted that people don’t like working there. Open floor plans and glass walls/doors suck for actual humans and productivity. The main building is like the Powermac G4 cube and the trashcan Mac Pro: all form; poorly-considered function.
Then there’s the basic fact that the 40-hour workweek and officespace culture is just plain unhealthy.
Instead of being bitter about what you see as “entitled” employees who should get shit on just the same as you do, maybe think about trying to raise the bar for EVERYONE (which includes yourselves). Stop licking the corporate boot and acting like you’re living vicariously through the boot wearers.