Apple Employees Reportedly Petitioning Against Plan to Return to Office 3x Per Week

[DMG35]

Many of these employees seem to think they can't be replaced and that Apple has no choice but to give in to their demands. I hate to break it to them, but they are replaceable and if they don't want to go back to the office for 3 days a week then they should consider looking for work elsewhere.

 

[bsolar]

The company makes the rules. Don’t like them? Go work elsewhere otherwise get to the office like they told you.

It still makes sense for employees of the company to provide feedback and for the company to listen to feedback about the rules they want to enact though.

 

[boss.king]

Many of these employees seem to think they can't be replaced and that Apple has no choice but to give in to their demands. I hate to break it to them, but they are replaceable and if they don't want to go back to the office for 3 days a week then they should consider looking for work elsewhere.

Apple is already struggling to keep up with their software releases, do you think canning a chunk of their team and brining in new people is going to ease or exacerbate that?

 

[Loismustdie1]

Many of these employees seem to think they can't be replaced and that Apple has no choice but to give in to their demands. I hate to break it to them, but they are replaceable and if they don't want to go back to the office for 3 days a week then they should consider looking for work elsewhere.

Depending on their level of experience and specialization, they may hold a lot more bargaining power than you are giving them credit for. Anyone can be replaced, but if someone is producing an exceptional caliber of work that is a much harder task (not to mention time consuming and expensive). Just because YOU are easily replaceable in your field doesn’t mean others in theirs are.

 

[Loismustdie1]

Well of course they do. They spent millions on their campus and they don't want it sitting empty.

Oh well? Apple is a multi-trillion dollar company. They’ll figure it out.

 

[TightLines]

Zest28 said:
Hi Tim,

If you are reading this, I will gladly take the spot of any of these employees who are earning $600k+ per year and don't want to work in the office 3 x week.

But since I am such a nice guy, I will settle for 500k per year. This offer only last for 24 hours.

Kind Regards,

You future employee who works 3 x week in the office.

boss.king said:
Why not actually apply for the job? If you’re skilled and willing to work in the office, surely you’d at least be considered.
Purported Job

Tip: For the position you seem to be interested in, that would be likely located in the same wing as Tim… i heard through the grapevine that already having a position and an office also located in NYC at one of those prestigious (self described) firms known throughout the industry as “equity< hedge, Etc…) in their names of firms description, will greatly enhance your chances… having experience in creative or innovative products is nice, but not nearly as important of an attribute for these positions you seek.

 

[laptech]

Yep. I work for a “tech company” and they keep pandering to these people. It drives me crazy.

Maybe I’m old fashioned (I’m only 30) but I enjoy the office days, I’d enjoy them a lot more if more people turned up (they’re not compulsory). Talking face to face really helps think of ideas and brainstorm plus it’s all around just more fun.

Yes. I get less work done. But as someone who is home alone otherwise WFH gets super boring and seeing colleagues makes me enjoy my work more.

Unfortunately that is not how a lot of office based jobs work. Employers tell you to come into work, sit at your desk and work. You are not there to procrastinate talking to work collegues or other things, you are there to work and you only talk to work collegeus if it's work related. Whilst your work environment maybe a little bit relaxed, i can assure you that for many it is hellish and thus working from home for them is a much welcomed relief.

 

[russell_314]

This is going to bite them in the rear end. They’re so adamant about not having to actually go to work and they’re pushing remote work but can’t see what’s right in front of them.

What’s going to happen is their job is going to get outsourced to India or someplace like that where the wages and cost of living are significantly lower. This happened with phone tech support and other kinds of phone support. Soon to happen to wonderful employees at Apple 😂

 

[DMG35]

Apple is already struggling to keep up with their software releases, do you think canning a chunk of their team and brining in new people is going to ease or exacerbate that?

Do we know that it would be a "chunk" of the software team or who in fact would fit into this category of people who want to stay home?

Depending on their level of experience and specialization, they may hold a lot more bargaining power than you are giving them credit for. Anyone can be replaced, but if someone is producing an exceptional caliber of work that is a much harder task (not to mention time consuming and expensive). Just because YOU are easily replaceable in your field doesn’t mean others in theirs are.

I disagree. Everyone is replaceable. Its a warm and fuzzy notion to think that no one can do your job better than you. The big machine of Apple would move on with or without people.

 

[Loismustdie1]

Apple is already struggling to keep up with their software releases, do you think canning a chunk of their team and brining in new people is going to ease or exacerbate that?

Finally. Some understands this nuance.

 

[boss.king]

Do we know that it would be a "chunk" of the software team or who in fact would fit into this category of people who want to stay home?

I specifically used the word chunk because it’s vague. It could be one person, it could be 4000. I’m not pretending to have any knowledge of how many employees are pushing for this or how many Apple could reasonably consider replacing.

 

[Abazigal]

The real issue here is that people moved out during the pandemic. Their wages went up 5%. Now if they want to move back, rent and house prices are up 30%. They could barely make ends meet before. Now it just won’t work. They’ll quit before coming back to work. Of course this is hard for Apple management to grasp when they are selling stock and pocketing millions of dollars.

That’s their problem, not Apple’s. They went ahead and did something which was never part of the deal with Apple, and now want to have their cake and eat it too instead of facing up to reality.

Maybe they should quit and open up the vacancies for other people who are able and willing to work on Apple’s terms.

 

[Loismustdie1]

Do we know that it would be a "chunk" of the software team or who in fact would fit into this category of people who want to stay home?

I disagree. Everyone is replaceable. Its a warm and fuzzy notion to think that no one can do your job better than you. The big machine of Apple would move on with or without people.

You're more than welcome to disagree, but that does not change the reality. If you are highly specialized in your field (especially in the tech sector), you hold significant sway. I'm speaking from experience. My job recalled me back to the office five months ago. My letter of resignation came the next day. Guess what? They walked that back real quick.

 

[bsolar]

I disagree. Everyone is replaceable. Its a warm and fuzzy notion to think that no one can do your job better than you. The big machine of Apple would move on with or without people.

Almost everyone is replaceable but the cost of replacing a qualified, experienced employee is very high and brings risks and uncertainty companies really dislike.

Furthermore, you need to actually find a replacement willing to forfeit WFH: some have no issue with that but many of the more qualified candidates are simply not going to accept that, meaning that finding a good replacement might not be as easy as one thinks.

 

[bsolar]

That’s their problem, not Apple’s. They went ahead and did something which was never part of the deal with Apple, and now want to have their cake and eat it too instead of facing up to reality.

It becomes Apple's problem if Apple wants them back in the office and they reply "no thanks, I have decided to pursue another job opportunity instead".

 

[4nNtt]

The world changed over the last couple years. Any company that doesn’t change with it will be moving against the current.

 

[everlast3434]

Yeah. This is just temporary. Soon they’ll require they come in for all 5, just like before. They didn’t build that fancy circle just to have Tim Apple wandering around in it by himself.

 

[rotlex]

I see both sides of this. I've been working at home for 2 1/2 years now due to the pandemic. My company has now stated that as of October 17th, they are going to require 3 days in office. I've been voluntarily going in 1-2 days a week for a few months now just to get out of the house.

My issue, after having been home this long, is that I am more efficient at home. I actually work a longer day and am more productive. I'm not spending an hour a day commuting, burning gas and putting wear and tear on my vehicle. There is literally zero reason for me to ever go into the office. With that said, I DON'T have a problem with being asked to go in 3 days a week.....except for one thing......

My company has now decided that IF you live further than 25 miles from the office, you can permanently work from home. I live 12 miles, which means I will have to go in at least 3 days a week. This is where I get angry. It's as if I'm being penalized for living closer to work. I have worked here 20+ years as well as many others. When I took the job I knew, as well as those that live 25+ miles away, that it was an "in office" position. To now come out and state that if you live x distance from the office you can stay WFH, seems like some sort of discrimination to me.

I'm very interested to see how things turn out in my situation.

 

[Abazigal]

It becomes Apple's problem if Apple wants them back in the office and they reply "no thanks, I have decided to pursue another job opportunity instead".

As I further mentioned below, it may not be a bad thing if they do decide to pursue other job opportunities and free up those vacancies for other employees willing to work on Apple's terms (and more).

 

[Luis Ortega]

What I would like to know is, is this an issue with health and safety or and an issue with working conditions? The two are obviously very different and I feel need to be tackled differently. The petition doesn’t appear to drill into any specific details.

I suspect that it’s an issue with having built a big ass building and needing to have people in it to justify the expense.

 

[VidPro]

Three days a week? Let me cry a river for all of you who have to endure such a miserable lifestyle. LOL!

 

[Danoc]

.

 

[Arran]

To be fair though, who wouldn’t? I mean the place is virtually a mini city - has countless shops, leisure centres, it’s own forest and parks, there’s more places to sit with a drink than a Parisian backstreet.

Apple Park looks nice. Perfectly designed. Immaculate. Polished. Instagrammable.

But to me it feels like big-bucks “show-off“ architecture. Designed to impress other architects, the media and campus visitors. For the creative people who have to live there, I can see it being rigid and overbearing. Oppressive. Stepford-esque.

Creative environments are messy. Emphasis must be on the product, not the factory. The factory is just a means to an end.

Here’s Picasso in his studio:

 

[zoozx]

Hey apple, hire me, I'll be there 5 days a week, on time!

 

[schneeland]

Ah! A WFH topic - what a nice way to energize everybody on a Monday

That being said, I am really surprised that Apple insists on rolling this out as a one-size-fits-all solution. There might be teams for which all relevant members are in the US and a lot of direct exchange is beneficial, but then others who can either work individually or have parts of their teams on other continents anyway. For the former, 4 days in the office might be right, while for the latter it's enough to just come and meet the local colleagues once every 2 weeks.