Apple Staff Complain About Plans for Return to Office Work in Letter to Tim Cook

[Rychiar]

A large group of Apple employees are opposing the company's plans to require three days of in-person work a week from September, according to a internal letter seen by The Verge.

In the detailed letter sent yesterday afternoon, addressed to CEO Tim Cook and the company's executive leadership, the Apple employees said that they want a more flexible approach where those who want to work remotely are able to do so.



Earlier this week, Tim Cook sent a note to Apple employees explaining that they will need to return to the office for at least three days a week starting in September. Teams that require in-person work will return to the office for four to five days a week, but most employees will still be able to have two days of remote work. Employees will also be able to work entirely remotely for up to two weeks every year, but the remote work requests will need to be approved by managers.



The new remote working policy is a distinctive easing compare to the company's previous working from home policy, but some Apple staff believe that the new plan does not go far enough and is "not sufficient in addressing many of our needs."

Benefits of more flexible work highlighted by the employees included diversity and inclusion in retention and hiring, tearing down previously-existing communication barriers, better work-life balance, better integration of existing remote workers, and reduced spread of pathogens.



The letter reportedly began in an Apple Slack channel for "remote work advocates" with around 2,800 members. As many as 80 employees are said to have been involved in writing and editing the note.

The letter summarised its formal requests as follows:



See the full letter at The Verge for more information.

Article Link: Apple Staff Complain About Plans for Return to Office Work in Letter to Tim Cook

I hope Tim Cook openly laughs at this. Only on California would such whining go this far. I could work from home too but my office brought us back last august. If I didn’t like it I could find work elsewhere.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

If you don’t agree with the requirements of a job, you are free to quit. If you think the grass is greener elsewhere, knock yourself out.

I think some are overestimating their productivity over the last year. And they’re underestimating the value that comes from in-person collaboration.

 

[P-DogNC]

I hear it has good pizza.

…and amazingly-designed pizza boxes!

 

[twistedpixel8]

Since Apple's median employee pay is $57,783, I doubt many of those you are referring to were among the signatories of this letter.

I’m having trouble believing that figure. My little brother just got his first graduate job at a well-known software company (smaller than Apple). $120k a year plus $50k a year in stock options. Graduate job. Zero experience.

I think that median figure must include jobs you wouldn’t expect it to. Perhaps employed cleaning staff, grounds keepers, etc.

 

[Trenches]

Translation: we don’t want to pay Silicon Valley rents anymore.

 

[Trenches]

Since Apple's median employee pay is $57,783, I doubt many of those you are referring to were among the signatories of this letter.

No, you’re including retail. Trust me, that is not even close to true for Silicon Valley corporate employees. My estimate is closer to $100K-$120K area employee median accounting for the skewed engineering wages. $57K is starvation wages in the valley, even post-pandemic. Can’t speak for other corporate areas like NYC. I’d guess it is a slightly lower median there since that is marketing/retail ops.

 

[JungeQuex]

Stopped reading after “Stopped reading”. If you can’t or won’t read, that says a lot about you.

Refusing to swallow a bunch of diarrhea has nothing to do with intelligence related to reading. Says nothing about him - it says a lot about you, though.

 

[Silverstring]

I'm impressed by your ability to bring in arguments no one seems to be making, spend a lot of words to completely ignore specific questions, AND call questions intended to give your own answers the floor my "feelings". Questions=feelings? What dictionary do you use?

But I've already stated I DO NOT CARE about how YOU feel about my opinions, there's plenty substance in what I've said.

To sum up:
1. You're not special although mother told you so.

Has nothing to do with my question. Where did you even get this?

2. I do not care if YOUR job can be done from the comfort of your home, most of the world cannot do theirs from home, so if it's SAFE....BRING YO @$$ in.

1. I'm not a remote worker, nor do I care to be one.
2. Obviously some work can't be done remote, no one is disputing that. Some jobs can't be done without a car. Some jobs can't be done if you're under a certain height, or from certain geographical locations. If you're a boat captain, you have to be on the boat. At issue here are jobs that can be done remote
3. No one is talking about "safety" here. Again, are your political projections leaking?!?!

Baseless assumptions seem to be your bag, though. Hopefully at work, you use facts and make actual arguments, not just react emotionally and say it's "substantial" because...you say so.

Your argument seems to be "even jobs that can be done remote shouldn't be". Can you explain why they shouldn't be?!?! That would be substance. Or, is it that: no one should be able to work remote until every job on earth can be done remote?

3. Kids back in school? Why can't they all just learn from home? Why are we sending our most precious in environments that could be hazardous to their health? ...but no go ahead and rationalize why you wanna stay home forever.

What in the world!?!?!?! Does Apple or any other company you know of have an onsite school?!?! Are any of the arguments for remote work fundamentally depend on having kids?!?! What about single people? Or married and childless?!?!

What kids are doing in school has ZERO relevance to anything I've asked.

Also, I'm not a remote worker, so again...what are you talking about?!?! Did you wander into the wrong thread?

If you can raise even one point about how the work itself is negatively impacted by "staying home", that would be great.

That wouldn't be about my "feelings" about your opinion, or all the extraneous surrounding noise of a WFH decision, it'd be fleshing out your own points. If you can't do that, just say so!

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Wow, didn’t realize Apple employees were entitled children.

2 days remote is a good compromise for people who want the community feel of an office and for those who want the flexibility to work in their underwear.

Imagine a group of people writing a letter encouraging Apple to return to in person 5 days a week. They’re both equally tone deaf.

 

[ingambe]

If some prefer to telework I don't see why a company would say no as long as the work is done
It's less fees for the company (office cost a lot) and less fees for the employee

However, this is a dangerous game for the employee in the long run
Why would they hire people from the US where they need to give them 200k$+ per year when they can hire people from other places (India or even Europe) where they pay them 5 to 10 times less?
As soon as everything is fully remote, there is no reason to hire from the US

 

[JoshBoy]

I work for a bank, we are going through the same thing at the moment. For me I would like a balanced 2 to 3 in the office, and 2 or 3 from hoke (depending on business needs). They went through mandating 2 days back and have just moved to 3. I like having a job, I feel lucky to have a job so will end up doing what the business needs or wants.

 

[falkon-engine]

Apple employees seemed to have learned that there’s power in the collective. One sound one voice. Strong and powerful.

All that being said, with the vaccine readily available, and covid numbers on the decline, going back into the office isn’t so dangerous now. And a guaranteed 4 days of remote work per pay period is a good offer, so they should consider that as well. They still work for a corporation after all, it’s not a democracy. And the offer from Tim Cook doesn’t seem that unreasonable. Front line workers have had to go into work during the height of the pandemic, exposed to the virus, and these employees got to stay at home… they should consider their privilege.

 

[paulovsouza]

With how bad leaks are, I doubt they could do it. I get it for mental health, child raising, and flexibility that working from home has. But starting in September only working 3 days a week, in a building worth billions of dollars…

 

[amartinez1660]

Stopped reading after 'inclusivity' and 'empowerment'

You're not promoting empowerment and are against inclusivity. Anyone asking them to go back to the office is racist, imho.

I love this setup though, Apple is always about “empowering, including, listening” to people. I’m quite curious to know what’s going to be the PR stunt to turn this down without looking like: “ah yeah, but we don’t empower in this exact case, get yourself (ass-inclusive) over here by tomorrow”.

I recognize the sentiment from my colleagues and management as well. On the one hand some would really like to return to the office but some others prefer to work from home. To each their own. Management would just like to return to normal, which is a much easier way of running things.

In my experience, most employees complaints come from those that basically have too much people at home: house wife/husband with a couple homeschooled kids and/or a small house without extra rooms to spare.

And from management, 100% would rather have people back. In my experience meetings surged 300+%, almost all of it management induced. I went ahead and offered to be always available on a discord video channel for random enquiries, no big meeting planning needed, I also stream my screen and they can even see me “having lunch” (I don’t actually have lunch in general) while still throwing some lines, doing builds, tests, renders, etc… “oddly enough”, during lunch no one tends to connect in.

And or those that are ok with work from home, some of them have been doing it for a decade or more… contractors, freelancers, experts, etc that make so much more money, talking 3x or more here, that they would never go back to a normal company with normal work hours with rigid workplace flexibility and normal salaries, unless there’s no option that is.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If those employees don't want to return to work, they should be fired, in my opinion. I see no reason why Apple should cater to them.

 

[Silverstring]

Sure and having that refirigerator with in arms reach every day while rolling out of bed onto your desk and walking 5 feet to the bathroom is great for your health. Have u seen the sizes of people now? Yikes

People who work on site are significantly healthier is...an argument.

Apple should add a new workout type to the watch—walk 5 steps to car, walk 20 steps to desk, walk 15 steps to office bathroom, walk 5 steps to car, walk 5 steps to home door. What a fitness routine!

Also, I don't know many people who have toilets in their home office...do you? I'm confident there's not a huge fitness impact from desk-to-bathroom distance at work vs at home, but perhaps you work in a REALLY spread out office?

I have a few now-remote friends who get at-home workouts in during work breaks—like hopping on their Peloton, or yoga—something they didn't and couldn't do if they went in (no shower, no gym in office building, etc). Also, working remote means they can cook at home meals that are healthier, rather than quickly shoving down delivery in between meetings.

People who prioritize health will do so, people who don't, won't. To pin the difference on remote work is a TREMENDOUS stretch. Who's to say they didn't get fatter from every other environment change (not going on walks with friends, not playing in a rec softball league, not running errands, etc)?

 

[mnsportsgeek]

If those employees don't want to return to work, they should be fired, in my opinion. I see no reason why Apple should cater to them.

The funny thing is that Apple is catering to them. They’re also catering to people that want to work with their colleagues in person. These people are just being selfish and unwilling to compromise. Only their mental health is important.

 

[JokerGengy]

I'm impressed by your ability to bring in arguments no one seems to be making, spend a lot of words to completely ignore specific questions, AND call questions intended to give your own answers the floor my "feelings". Questions=feelings? What dictionary do you use?

Has nothing to do with my question. Where did you even get this?

1. I'm not a remote worker, nor do I care to be one.
2. Obviously some work can't be done remote, no one is disputing that. Some jobs can't be done without a car. Some jobs can't be done if you're under a certain height, or from certain geographical locations. If you're a boat captain, you have to be on the boat. At issue here are jobs that can be done remote
3. No one is talking about "safety" here. Again, are your political projections leaking?!?!

Baseless assumptions seem to be your bag, though. Hopefully at work, you use facts and make actual arguments, not just react emotionally and say it's "substantial" because...you say so.

Your argument seems to be "even jobs that can be done remote shouldn't be". Can you explain why they shouldn't be?!?! That would be substance. Or, is it that: no one should be able to work remote until every job on earth can be done remote?


What in the world!?!?!?! Does Apple or any other company you know of have an onsite school?!?! Are any of the arguments for remote work fundamentally depend on having kids?!?! What about single people? Or married and childless?!?!

What kids are doing in school has ZERO relevance to anything I've asked.

Also, I'm not a remote worker, so again...what are you talking about?!?! Did you wander into the wrong thread?

If you can raise even one point about how the work itself is negatively impacted by "staying home", that would be great.

That wouldn't be about my "feelings" about your opinion, or all the extraneous surrounding noise of a WFH decision, it'd be fleshing out your own points. If you can't do that, just say so!

No wonder it took you so long to reply, you're writing novels over there, I'ma keep it short and sweet for your big brain to keep up.

If OUR children (regardless if you're a parent or not, their OUR children because we are all humans and THEY ARE THE FUTURE) have to go back into learning environments because it is NOW deemed safe enough for them to return, then it's perfectly acceptable thinking for a company to assume all able bodied adults who can SAFELY return to work do so. That's the point I'm making, stop writing novels trying to make yourself look smart or logical, you sound dumb AF, if my niece and nephew gotta risk catching corona or whatever new strain that's fresh of the expressway from hell then you gotta go out there and catch it too. 🤷🏽‍♂️

 

[Apple_Robert]

The funny thing is that Apple is catering to them. They’re also catering to people that want to work with their colleagues in person. These people are just being selfish and unwilling to compromise. Only their mental health is important.

Yes, mental health as well as physical ability / disability is important. Apple should adopt the "none shall pass" mentality. Trying to please everyone is a recipe for failure. Apple needs to be fair but firm and I think they have been very fair with their new back to work directive.

 

[Johnny London]

This reads like a letter from first-time ever young adult employees. Poorly written and trying to gain from the momentum of political correctness regarding disabled people and the environment, see last two „demands“. Cry me a river. Despicable.

 

[JokerGengy]

If some prefer to telework I don't see why a company would say no as long as the work is done
It's less fees for the company (office cost a lot) and less fees for the employee

However, this is a dangerous game for the employee in the long run
Why would they hire people from the US where they need to give them 200k$+ per year when they can hire people from other places (India or even Europe) where they pay them 5 to 10 times less?
As soon as everything is fully remote, there is no reason to hire from the US

Perfectly said. They gone complain themselves out of a good paying sector of the economy.🤷🏽‍♂️

 

[FloatingBones]

I don't think asking for someone you pay hundreds of thousands per year to come in for 3 days per week is a big ask. Especially since it's a lot harder for a company like Apple to contain leaks with everyone working from home.

Since Apple's median employee pay is $57,783, I doubt many of those you are referring to were among the signatories of this letter.

@Jarman74 : your claim is an example of How To Lie With Statistics.

Roughly half of Apple's employees work for Retail. Their large number of smaller salaries significantly slew the median salary of Apple. This article notes ~65K employees in retail in 2018, and this article shows ~132K employees at Apple in 2018.

In short, you picked an inappropriate base for your sample. If you exclude those Retail employees from your sample, then @keco185's comment makes a lot more sense. Darrell Huff's book has great examples of the perils of poor sample selection.

I kept hoping that the pandemic would sharpen our statistical analysis skills, but that has not been the case. 😢

 

[Boris Bronson]

Good on them for standing up for themselves.

 

[cmcbhi]

If ya don't want to come in to work, we can find someone who does.
Perhaps they forget who is paying whom.

 

[1665river]

Nobody wants to breath in recirculated artificial air 8 hours a day... .

Agree, there are plenty of jobs available in skilled trades or field work that will guarantee these employees are able to work outside in the fresh air, not to mention the opportunity to do real noble work that is essential to their fellow citizens.