Apple Employees Push Back Against Back-to-Office Mandate

23 AUGUST 2022 - Apple corporate employees are due back in the office in a couple of weeks, and some are pushing back against it. Last week Bloomberg (via Yahoo Finance) ran a short report saying Apple had:

…set a Sept. 5 deadline for corporate employees to be in the office at least three days a week after delaying its return plans several times due to Covid-19 spikes.

The plan calls for workers to be in on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and one other regular day set by individual teams. And at least some individuals are not into it.

The Financial Times ran a report Monday on a petition circulating among once and (perhaps) future Apple office folk. Apple Together, a group that formed during the pandemic, says some of its members are “happier and more productive” working away from the office, that they have done “exceptional work” away from the office, and they’d like to stay away from the office. “…location flexible work” is what they’re said to be requesting. On the company’s behalf, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said he wants to see people back on campus to preserve the “in-person collaboration” the he sees as “essential to [Apple’s] culture.”

While the Financial Times has seen the petition, Apple corporate has not - not officially, anyway. One of the Apple employees organizing the petition told the paper:

At this juncture we will not be releasing any specific names of individuals publicly or to exec leadership to protect our colleagues, especially in light of retail union busting and recent reports of allegations of retaliation from HR...

The Financial Times says “Apple declined to comment” for the report.