Apple Will Need To Give In To Employee Demands For More Permissive Remote Work Options Or 'Risk Losing Talent:' Gurman

Apple Inc AAPL will need to give in to “more permissive remote work” options or risk the exodus of its workforce, as per Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.

What Happened: Gurman made his observations in a newsletter Sunday. “I think Apple will eventually need to give in to more permissive remote work options or risk losing talent (both from inside the company and potential applicants),” wrote the veteran Apple analyst. 

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As per Gurman, while Apple is largely a hardware operation — software and services engineers, marketing and PR staffers, user interface designers and salespeople don’t need to be in the office to do their jobs.

“Apple will eventually have to make a shift, I think,” said Gurman.

Why It Matters: Apple employees wrote a letter in June, saying that the return to office policy pitched by Apple had forced some colleagues to quit their positions.

Gurman said that some Apple employees had reached out to him saying they were considering leaving for roles at other companies which are more flexible when it comes to remote work.

Last week, Apple delayed the return to the office of its employees by a month due to the emergence of new variants of COVID-19.

The return to office plan was advocated by CEO Tim Cook and involved employees showing up at their desks at least three days a week.

Gurman noted that had Apple employees returned to their desks as originally planned, the Cupertino, California-based tech giant could have launched its next line of iPhones in an in-person event — instead, he now expects an online launch.

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