Apple employees are fighting back against the tech giant’s push to force workers back into the physical office after years of working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. These employees, who are working together as a group, claim that Apple’s push to move back into an in-person work environment will make the company’s workforce “younger, whiter, [and] more male-dominated,” which does not support the company’s push to be more diverse.
Employees of Apple organized together in a group called Apple Together. They shared an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, expressing their distaste for moving back into the office after years of working from home.
The group of employees suggests that Apple is not moving back to the office because of a “need to convene in person” but because the tech giant is full of “fear of the future of work, fear of worker autonomy [and] fear of losing control.”
The open letter said that despite forcing people back into the office, Apple will “likely always find people willing to work here,” but the shift back into the office could lead to a “change in the makeup of [the company’s workforce].”
The group wrote, “It will lead to privileges deciding who can work for Apple, not who’d be the best fit. Privileges like ‘being born in the 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.’ And privileges like being born into a gender that society doesn’t expect the majority of care-work from, so it’s easy to disappear into an office all day without doing your fair share of unpaid work in society. Or being rich enough to pay others to do your care-work for you.”
In conclusion, the group said that “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. But the future is about connecting when it makes sense, with people who have relevant input, no matter where they are based.”
They left Apple’s CEO and other leaders with a thought that cannot be ignored.
“Now we ask you, the executive tea, 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. Trust us. We know how each of our small contributions helps Apple succeed and what’s required to do so. Our direct managers trust us and, in many cases, would happily let us work in a more flexible setup. And why wouldn’t they? We’ve successfully done so for the last two years. Why don’t you?”
What do you think about this open letter from Apple workers? Is it unfair of the tech giant to force workers back into the corporate offices?
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