CUPERTINO (KRON) – A group of Apple employees have written a petition protesting the new policy that they will have to return to the office at least three days a week starting next month.
The petition, Tell Apple: We Demand Location Flexible Work, is available online, where it has been signed by 757 people as of midday Tuesday.
“For the past 2+ years, Apple’s formerly office-based employees have performed exceptional work, flexibly, both outside and inside traditional office environments,” the petition states. “However, Apple leadership recently announced they require a general return to office starting the week of Sept 5 (Labor Day). This uniform mandate from senior leadership does not consider the unique demands of each job role nor the diversity of individuals.”
The petition demands that “Apple allows each of us to work directly with our immediate manager to figure out what kind of flexible work arrangements are best for each of us and for Apple” and that “These work arrangements should not require higher level approvals, complex procedures, or providing private information.”
The group, AppleTogether, claims that being able to work from anywhere should be part of the tech company’s commitment to “think different.” However, many Silicon Valley companies such as Google and Facebook have already made the COVID-era measure permanent.
Elon Musk of Tesla has taken a hardline stance, saying “remote work is no longer acceptable.” CEO Tim Cook has said in the past that he wants employees to return to the office to preserve “in-person collaboration,” but has softened his approach by allowing individual teams to choose a third day to return to the office each week, in addition to mandated Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Apple, Inc. did not respond to a request for comment for this report.
