Management’s resistance to changing its work-from-home policy has caused open frustration among Apple’s traditionally heads-down workforce, and reflects larger tensions among white-collar workers in the US as their employers begin to call them to return to the office in person. But Apple (which, unlike Google and Facebook, is primarily a hardware company that manufactures physical goods) has insisted that it needs most employees back in the office to run its notoriously secretive business. Amazon even backtracked on plans to require corporate staff to return to the office full time after an employee backlash.

Other Silicon Valley tech giants like Google and Facebook have offered more flexibility to their employees, allowing workers in good standing to request to work from home full time, although the details of these plans are still being worked out. The letter was posted on Monday morning to an internal Apple employee Slack channel for discussing remote work the channel has more than 6,000 members and is open to all Apple corporate employees. These arrangements would give employees the option to work remotely from their home five days a week - including in a location different from the area they were hired to work in - with the approval of their manager or department head, and in some cases, a cost-of-living compensation adjustment. The petition outlines two different “pilot arrangements” that would allow employees to work from home full time for at least one year, with no promise of being extended. That's a surprising departure from Apple’s traditionally hierarchical work culture. This is the second petition letter in two months from Apple employees writing about more flexible working conditions, and it’s a sign of continued rank-and-file dissent at the company. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Apple has only agreed to let employees work from home two days a week, with limited exceptions. In a new letter, some Apple employees are asking that the company allow staffers to work from home full time, with some restrictions. Now, tensions are rising about when and if these employees will return to the office. Tech companies like Apple were some of the first to allow their corporate employees to work from home at the start of the pandemic.

Apple remote management