Apple employees have expressed their thoughts on the company's tightened restrictions on the work-from-home setup.
A group of employees sent a letter to the company's executive members expressing their dissatisfaction with the new office-bound work rules, which prohibit them from working remotely for more than two days each week.
Prior to the tech giant's anticipated return to office work later this month, a group of Apple employees are calling for increased flexibility from the company.
In an open letter, the organization, which goes by the name Apple Together, claims that the company's plan for many employees to be in the office three days a week offers almost no flexibility at all and could be detrimental to the company's commitment to diversity.
Apple's Hybrid Working Pilot
Apple said in March that corporate staff would be returning to the office and that they would be required to be present at least two days a week by May 2nd. Starting on May 23rd, the company will transition to a hybrid working pilot model, with mandatory office days on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays in addition to regular office hours.
As reported by Engadget, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the benefits of in-person cooperation are irreplaceable, and the company's leadership team discussed the value of the serendipity that comes from stumbling into colleagues while on the job during an email exchange.
However, Apple employees seem to disagree with the new policies in place, stating that they do not promote any form of flexibility for them.
The letter states, "We are not asking for everyone to be forced to work from home. We are asking to decide for ourselves, together with our teams and direct manager, what kind of arrangement works best for each one of us, be that in an office, work from home, or a hybrid approach."
Sentiments of Apple Employees
Apple employees stated that working from home has become easier over the last two years because of Slack. However, employees also voiced their frustration with the company's policy on Slack, which hinders direct communication between employees.
Working remotely made it easy to contact colleagues in distant offices and from different countries. For example, a US team member could meet with a UK colleague in the morning and a Japanese colleague in the afternoon. This enabled new levels of international collaboration, allowing employees from "far away" regions to participate as much as colleagues from our major offices, and no longer feel like second-class participants in meetings.
In the announcement made by Tim Cook, he highlighted that those employees who wish to have extended work-from-home time will be approved on a case-to-case basis. However, several departments have not allowed a single exception in the last year, despite the fact that several employees were approved for remote work in the years before the pandemic.
The letter states, "The Hybrid Working Pilot is not an increase in flexibility, it is a smokescreen and often a step back in flexibility for many of our teams."
Apple employees stated that the company will almost certainly always find people wanting to work for them. However, it will alter the nature of our workforce.
It added, "It will make Apple younger, whiter, more male-dominated, more neuro-normative, more able-bodied. In short, it will lead to privileges deciding who can work for Apple, not who'd be the best fit."
