A group of Apple employees wrote an open letter to the company's executive team protesting its new policy that allows only two days of work from home, iMore reported. They said Apple's arguments for implementing the policy are unfounded and that the new work-from-home policy is inflexible and will lead to a "younger, whiter, more male-dominated, more neuro-normative, more capable" workforce.
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In March, Apple announced that corporate employees would return to the office and would have to be there at least two days a week by May 2. Starting May 23, it will switch to a hybrid model with mandatory office days on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. CEO Tim Cook has called the benefits of in-person collaboration “irreplaceable.”
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However, the letter counters these arguments by saying that in-person collaboration doesn’t even need to be monthly in some cases. It also questioned the company’s belief that in-person communication will help bring teams together, adding that tools like Slack are better for collaboration. Furthermore, Apple’s open offices limit the concentration “required for creativity and… deep thinking,” they said.
He noted that commuting to the office “is a huge waste of time , mental and physical resources.” At the same time, he said the policy favors people who can afford to live close to the office. “In short, it will lead to privileges that decide who can work for Apple, not who will be the best.”
Perhaps the most compelling argument was that Apple was being hypocritical in the way it marketed its own products. “We tell all our customers how great our products are for remote work, yet we ourselves can’t use them to work remotely?” the letter reads. “How can we expect our customers to take us seriously? How can we fix products that are meant for remote work if we don’t test them ourselves?”
The employees state in the letter that working from the office is a technology of the last century and it is not possible for a company like Apple to remain anchored to past practices.
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The letter is another sign of growing employee discontent at Apple, which is often portrayed as progressive. The company is also facing an investigation by the National Labor Relations Board ,which is investigating allegations of hostile work conditions.
Information source: engadget.com
