A group of Apple employees are pushing back against its decision to make corporate workers return to the office – arguing that it would disadvantage people of colour and those less physically able.
The tech company told its staff they would be required to be in the workplace one day a week from 11 April, then for two days per week, and three days a week after 28 May.
The Hybrid Working pilot scheme was first announced in June but was postponed due to the emergence of new Covid variants.
CEO Tim Cook said the move would allow colleagues to ‘engage more fully’ with each other and that Apple was ‘deeply committed to giving [them] support and flexibility’ through the transition.
However a group of its employees, organised under the newly-formed workers’ rights group Apple Together, has argued the shift was not motivated for better communication but the company’s ‘fear of the future of work, fear of worker autonomy [and] fear of losing control’.
In an open letter to Mr Cook, they recognised the benefit of face-to-face collaboration but it was not something that needed to happen on a monthly basis, least not a weekly one, describing the Hybrid Working pilot scheme as ‘one of the most inefficient ways to enable everyone to be in one room’.
The staffers argued the ‘serendipity that comes from bumping into colleagues’ in the office the CEO spoke of was redundant given the company had 37 offices in the US alone before it went remote during the Covid pandemic.
‘We are not all in one place. We don’t have just one office, we have many. And often, our functional organisations have their own office buildings, in which employees from other orgs cannot work,’ the letter read.
The group of employees said the new requirement would change the make-up staff, make the company less inclusive, and disadvantage those of a certain age, sex and race.
‘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,’ the letter continued.
‘Privileges like “being born in the right place so you don’t have to relocate”, or “being young enough to start a new life in a new city/country” or “having a stay-at-home spouse who will move with you”.
‘Apple will likely always find people willing to work here, but our current policies requiring everyone to relocate to the office their team happens to be based in, and being in the office at least three fixed days of the week, will change the makeup of our workforce.’
Apple Together said staff’s creativity and work relies, for many, on having ‘time for deep thought’ something it claims being in an office – particularly the company’s newer open-plan workspaces – does not offer.
‘Office-bound work is a technology from the last century, from the era before ubiquitous video-call-capable internet and everyone being on the same internal chat application,’ it wrote.
‘But the future is about connecting when it makes sense, with people who have relevant input, no matter where they are based.’
The plans to have corporate staff back in the office three days a week offers ‘almost no flexibility at all’ particularly due to the commute many have to take to get into the office which is a ‘huge waste of time as well as both mental and physical resources’, the group said.
‘We can’t believe we need to spell this out, but commuting to the office, without an actual need to be there, is a huge waste of time as well as both mental and physical resources,’ it wrote.
‘Many of us spend several hours every day commuting to and from the office, only to be in an environment where we can do our work less well or be on a video call anyway, because we need to work with a colleague in an office on the other side of the city, country, or planet.’
While Apple Together was not asking for everyone to be forced to work from home, it wanted the ability for staff to decide their working arrangement themselves, with teams and managers.
It added: ‘Now we ask you, the executive team, to show some flexibility as well and let go of the rigid policies of the Hybrid Working pilot. Stop trying to control how often you can see us in the office.’
The irony of Apple pushing its products to customers as being great for remote work while not allowing its own employees was not lost, Apple Together said.
‘How can we expect our customers to take that seriously? How can we understand what problems of remote work need solving in our products, if we don’t live it?’ its letter read.
‘How can we expect to convince the best people to come work with us, if we reject anyone who needs the smallest bit of flexibility? How can we expect them to do their best work, but don’t trust them to know how to do so?’
Apple Together was formed in August by two now-former employees engineer Cher Scarlett and Janneke Parish who encourage staff to come forward with stories of racism, sexism or discrimination in the workplace.
Before the letter was drafted, staff had reportedly attempted to raise concerns about the new working arrangements within Apples internal channels ‘ to no avail’.
‘There is such a huge disconnect between executive leadership and the individuals,’ an Apple Together member told CNN Business, adding: ‘the further you go up in the chain, the more sympathy erodes.’
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