The remote-work-option dynamic in the post-pandemic world certainly lacks consensus.
With companies’ plans all over the map when it comes to those policies, Apple employees are not satisfied with a partial answer.
Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, sent a memo to employees saying the company would allow two days of remote work per week, beginning this fall.
A couple of days later, Apple workers pressed the policy by asking for a fully flexible option.
According to the internal letter sent out Friday and obtained by The Verge, the workers are trying to set the landscape now.
“We would like to take the opportunity to communicate a growing concern among our colleagues,” the letter says. “That Apple’s remote/location-flexible work policy, and the communication around it, have already forced some of our colleagues to quit. Without the inclusivity that flexibility brings, many of us feel we have to choose between either a combination of our families, our well-being, and being empowered to do our best work, or being a part of Apple.”
Cook’s blueprint said employees would be mandated to work from the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, with the understanding that they could work remotely an additional two weeks a year, with their individual manager’s approval.
Prior to the pandemic, Apple insisted on full-time, in-office work; Twitter and Facebook allow employees the choice for as long as they want.
While Cook believes it’s a distinct advantage to work in person, the letter indicates a communication gap.
“Over the last year we often felt not just unheard, but at times actively ignored,” the letter, from approximately 80 workers, said. “Messages like, ‘we know many of you are eager to reconnect in person with your colleagues back in the office,’ with no messaging acknowledging that there are directly contradictory feelings amongst us feels dismissive and invalidating.”
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