Apple Employees Are Not Happy With Work From Office Policy; Complains To Apple With An Open Letter

A group of Apple employees have penned an open letter, criticising the company’s new policy that allows for only two days of working from home.

No Flexibility

Addressed to the company’s executive team, the group said that three fixed days in the office and the two days work from home “broken apart by an office day, is almost no flexibility at all”.

They noted that forcing everyone to work from the office is “a huge waste of time and mental and physical resources”.

Whitewashed Workforce

It “does not recognise flexible work”, and will create a “younger, whiter, more male-dominated, more neuro-normative, more able-bodied” workforce.

The workforce will become bereft of any diversity. 

Apple’s Plan

Apple had announced in March that corporate employees would be returning to the office, and need to be there for at least 2 days a week by May 2.

It will transition to a hybrid model from May 23 in which Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are mandatory office days.

The protesting workers accused the hybrid model of being born out of “fear of the future of work, fear of worker autonomy, fear of losing control”.

Collaboration No Better In Office

CEO Tim Cook ahd called the benefits of in-person collaboration “irreplaceable”.

The workers said that Apple’s siloed office structure makes it difficult to connect with colleagues and that remote tools like Slack are better for collaboration.

Apple’s open-plan offices also hinder the concentration “required for creativity and… deep thought”.

Remote Promotes Inclusion

Harshly putting down the hybrid model, they said that it is one of the most inefficient ways to get people to be present in one room.

With remote work, it was much easier to reach out to colleagues in other offices.

It had the added benefit of allowing international collaboration with colleagues from ‘far away’ locations who would finally be able to contribute and “no longer felt like second-class participants in meetings”.

Treat Employees As Adults

The employees explained that they are not asking for everyone to be forced to work from home. 

Instead, they want the employees to be able to decide the best arrangement for themselves.

They shunned the company’s approach and asked them to stop treating employees like “school kids who need to be told when to be where and what homework to do.”