Apple, employee protests against return to work in attendance since September

The idea of return to working in presence still does not appeal to more than one employee of the Cupertino house. The spokesman for the discontent is Apple Together, the group of workers formed during the pandemic when the company was forced to introduce more flexible forms of work. As reported by the Financial Times, on Sunday began circulating among the members of Apple Together one petition to ask the management to review the decision according to which, starting from next September 5th, people will (compulsorily) return to work in the presence for three days a week.

The group, opposing the vision that Tim Cook himself has repeatedly reiterated – in summary, there is nothing that can replace face-to-face collaboration – underlines that, on the contrary, having greater flexibility in managing the location of your workplace improves employee productivity and satisfaction. The group asks that individuals be able to fully manage the working methods with their manager, without being forced to respect the decisions that are adopted at the highest management levels.

The protests have been going on for months and the plan for returning to work in person has already been the subject of a review by the top management: the original project included the obligation to work in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, while that modified contemplates only Tuesday and Thursday as fixed days and the third to be discussed and established with your manager.

Apple Together However asks for even more flexibility with respect to a project that has already caused major fractures within the organization chart – among the most illustrative is Ian Goodfellow (former head of the machine learning division) who in the spring decided to leave the company precisely because of the new rules.

The petition reads: we believe that Apple should encourage not prohibit flexible working to build a more diverse and successful company within which we can feel comfortable and united in “think different”. For now, Apple has not expressed itself on the new requests of its employees (or, at least, the answer has not been leaked outside).