Apple Staff Pushes Back Against Tim Cook's Call For Return To Office In September: Report

Apple Inc AAPL employees are not in agreement with a policy that would see them working at their desks three days a week starting early September, the Verge reported.

What Happened: “Apple’s remote/location-flexible work policy, and the communication around it, have already forced some of our colleagues to quit,” said an internal letter addressed to CEO Tim Cook and seen by The Verge.

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“Without the inclusivity that flexibility brings, many of us feel we have to choose between either a combination of our families, our well-being, and being empowered to do our best work, or being a part of Apple,” the letter read. 

The letter was reportedly circulated among employees for their signatures Friday afternoon after an internal communication from Tim Cook announced the new policy.

The employees outlined specific demands, such as consideration of location-flexible work decisions to be autonomous for a team within the company to decide as are hiring decisions. A formal request for an Apple-wide recurring short survey spanning topics mentioned in the letter. Inclusion of a question about employee churn due to remote work to be added to exit interviews. 

The letter also demands an insight be made into the environmental impact of returning to onsite in-person work and how permanent remote-and-location flexibility could offset such an impact.

Why It Matters: The letter to Cook started in a channel for “remote work advocates” with 2,800 members on the messaging app software made by Slack Technologies Inc WORK, as per the Verge.

Nearly 80 people were involved in writing and editing the self-described “plea.” The authors wrote, “Over the last year we often felt not just unheard, but at times actively ignored.”

Other tech giants have taken a more flexible approach to work from home.

Last year, Jack Dorsey-led Twitter Inc TWTR notified its employees by email that it would allow them to work from home as long as they wanted.

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Also last year, Facebook Inc FB CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the Verge that the thing that had been “positively surprising to people is that people are more productive working at home than people would have expected. A lot of people are actually saying that they’re more productive now.”

Price Action: On Friday, Apple shares closed 1.9% higher at $125.89 in the regular session.

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