Concern about hybrid work models
In response to the statement “I am worried that some of my colleagues will have to leave Apple due to LACK of location-flexible work options,” 58.5 percent said they “strongly agree.” A total of 1,743 people answered the question. A smaller portion — 36.7 percent — said they are worried they’ll have to resign due to the lack of flexibility.
Employees sent the survey results to Cook and Deirdre O’Brien, senior vice president of retail and people, on June 14th. They included a video with personal testimonies from 24 Apple workers on why remote working options are important.
Two weeks later, Apple sent out a video doubling down on the hybrid model, saying “we believe that in-person collaboration is essential to our culture and our future.” More here.
I am all for worker's rights and for employers to take their employee's view into account, but something about this does not sit right with me.
The following tweet cemented my thoughts-
I was hired during the pandemic, the reason I considered joining again was because it was remote, I’ve delivered amazing results in the 6 months I’ve been here, that video really showed I’m not valued at all.
And I’m incredibly privileged to be able to still live in SF. There are folks who can’t afford to relocate to pricey HQ areas, or are immunocompromised, or have unvaccinated children, or live in countries where the vaccination rate is <10%. Where is there choice?
I do get the concern about having to relocate if you were employed remotely (although presumably future plans would have been made clear in the interview) and especially for those who still have concerns about Covid safety, but my experience is completely different.
Most people I have spoken to want to continue to work from home and a good proportion of those seem to feel they have a right to do so in the future, even if the pandemic is completely controlled.
Worker's rights are very important, but so is the right for employers to ask their staff to work in the location they signed up to work in originally. Interested in your thoughts on this one.
As an aside, here is an excellent article that is worth a read; The empty office: what we lose when we work from home.