Apple employees are just a little over a week from their mandatory return-to-office date, but some say they plan to quit in protest because they ‘don’t want to deal with the commute’ or ‘sit around for eight hours a day.’

All US staff will have to return to the office at least one day a week starting April 11, according to a memo sent by Apple CEO Tim Cook in March. By May 23, employees will be required to be in the office at least three days a week. 

But some employees say they’d rather quit than return to the office, the New York Post reported. 

‘I don’t give a single f*** about ever coming back to work here,’ an employee ranted on anonymous corporate message board Blind this week. ‘It was a great resume boost but it’s not for me,’ the worker added.   

Several Apple employees expressed their frustration about the new policy, and many commenters supported them, saying ‘yeah, f*** Apple.’ 

‘I’m going to go in to say hello and meet everyone since I haven’t since I started and then sending in my resignation when I get home,’ the same employee wrote. ‘I already know I won’t be able to deal with the commute and sitting around for 8 hours.’  

Other Apple workers complained about what they believe is Apple’s unfair policy, which they pointed out is stricter than other tech companies, including Google, Amazon and Meta.

One employee wrote that they were already in the final stages of interviews with other companies due to Apple’s new policy. Another said, ‘Totally bummed and looking into full remote jobs now.’ 

An employee who has only been at Apple for one year sought advice on the forum, asking ‘Will it burn bridges if I leave only after 1 year for another remote job?’

Apple employees are just a little over a week from their mandatory return-to-office date but some say they plan to quit rather than deal with the commute or sitting around for 8 hours

Apple employees are just a little over a week from their mandatory return-to-office date but some say they plan to quit rather than deal with the commute or sitting around for 8 hours

Several Apple employees expressed their frustration about the new policy on the anonymous corporate message board Blind, and commenters supported them, saying 'yeah, f*** Apple'

Several Apple employees expressed their frustration about the new policy on the anonymous corporate message board Blind, and commenters supported them, saying ‘yeah, f*** Apple’

All US staff for Apple will have to return to the office at least one day a week starting April 11, and three days a week by May 23

All US staff for Apple will have to return to the office at least one day a week starting April 11, and three days a week by May 23

An Apple employee posted to the anonymous corporate message board Blind this week joining several who said they were going to quit as soon as they returned to office on April 11

An Apple employee posted to the anonymous corporate message board Blind this week joining several who said they were going to quit as soon as they returned to office on April 11

THE PERKS OF WORKING AT APPLE

  • An onsite wellness center at the headquarters in California has access to doctors, chiropractors, and mental wellness practitioners
  • Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and sick days for new hires is between 15 to 20 days per year
  • Senior employees get between 20 to 30 days vacation days a year
  • New mothers receive four weeks of paid leave before giving birth and 14 weeks of maternity leave afterward  
  • Fathers and non-birth parents are able to take six weeks of paid leave
  • Employees are provided free, exclusive shuttle service if they live in Cupertino, Apple’s California HQ
  • The company also provides a $100 stipend for employees to use towards other transport costs
  • Apple gives a $300 gym credit per month to put towards their personal physical health and wellness
  • A company stock purchase plan, with available stock grants that allow employees to buy discounted stock
  • A ‘university’ which is an on-campus training center where they can take online classes and finance seminars
  • Apple also offers to reimburse for tuition costs up to $5,250
  • Employees are offered a 50 percent 401(k) match for up to six percent of their total salary
  • Employees receive significant discounts on Apple products
  • An on-site Cafe Mac offers healthy home-cooked-style meals at low subsidized costs – and FREE apples 
  • The Beer Bash is a regular event for Apple employees with free drinks, food, and often – celebrity cameos 

Apple employees are be required to go in to the office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, while Wednesdays and Fridays will be ‘flexible.’ 

Employees will also be allowed to work fully remotely for up to four weeks per year.

While Google is also asking employees to come into the office three days week, the company is giving some the option of switching offices or working remotely forever. 

Meta is also letting employees work remotely, from anywhere, although some Meta employees who move away from a bigger city may face pay cuts. 

Amazon had initially planned to order employees into the office three days a week, but is now leaving the decision up to each team.  

Twitter, which in October 2020 announced their staff could work from home permanently, has had staff returning gradually, if they wished. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged in his memo that not all employees would be happy to come back.   

‘For many of you, I know that returning to the office represents a long-awaited milestone and a positive sign that we can engage more fully with the colleagues who play such an important role in our lives,’ Cook said. 

‘For others, it may also be an unsettling change.’

Apple’s office perks range from an on-site gym to a weekly ‘beer bash’ but on the message board Blind, some employees said perks are just a distraction tool.  

‘In-office perks are a tool companies use to distract you from the fact that you’re selling a majority of your waking hours to a soulless corporation,’ one employee said in response to the Apple worker threatening to quit. 

‘Demand to work remotely and if it’s not approved, quit and tell them why.’

Apple employees are also offered free shuttle service for those based in Apple’s California HQ, $100 stipend toward other transportation costs, a wellness center, a $300 gym credit, an onsite Cafe Mac that offers healthy home-cooked-style meals, an espresso bar, free apples and a beer bash with free drinks, food, and often – celebrity cameos.  

Apple has been attempting to bring employees back to office since June last year, but had postponed the move several times as COVID-19 cases rose through autumn and the winter of 2021 thanks to the Delta and Omicron variants.   

Apple, whose global headquarters is in Cupertino, California, joins a wave of technology and finance companies that have begun mandating a return to office as COVID cases ease. 

Google from April 4 will require employees back about three days a week in some of its U.S., U.K. and Asia Pacific offices, its first step to end policies that allowed remote work because of COVID concerns.  

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet last month that the company is ready to fully open up business travel and all its offices around the world, however, said it would be the employees’ choice on where they work. 

Twitter was one of the first in the tech business to urge employees to work remotely when coronavirus first emerged in the US in mid-March 2020. 

An aerial view of Apple Park is seen in Cupertino, California, United States

An aerial view of Apple Park is seen in Cupertino, California, United States

Apple employees will be required to work from the office at least one day per week by April 11, CEO Tim Cook said in an internal memo on Friday

Apple employees will be required to work from the office at least one day per week by April 11, CEO Tim Cook said in an internal memo on Friday

Apple, on the other hand, has pushed hard to get staff to return to the office, and the company believes in-person collaboration is key to its success.

The company’s push to force workers back into the office has drawn backlash from some employees,

‘Over the last year we often felt not just unheard, but at times actively ignored,’ Apple employees wrote in a letter to CEO Tim Cook last summer.

Apple has cited the fact that it produces hardware as the reason why staff must return to the office, and says in-person collaboration yields better results.

Facebook, also facing pressure from employees, last summer said that all employees would be able to request a permanent remote status.

Annie Dean, who was head of remote work for Facebook earlier in the pandemic and is now vice president of ‘team anywhere’ at software developer Atlassian Corp, told the Wall Street Journal that bosses who force staffers back to offices in rigid ways will lose credibility with their workforces.

‘Our sense of place has been permanently disrupted,’ she said. ‘That’s just not going to be the way that we go forward.’

Full letter from Apple CEO Tim Cook on returning to the office

Team,

As our response to COVID-19 continues to evolve, I’d like to share an update on our plans to return to our offices.

In many locations, officials have started lifting pandemic restrictions in accordance with the guidance of public health experts. And based on the latest data, we are optimistic that this progress will continue into the spring.

While many of you have been coming in regularly for quite some time, we are now looking forward to welcoming those of you who shifted to working remotely back to our corporate offices. 

In the United States, beginning on April 11, we’ll begin the phased approach to the hybrid pilot, with teams returning to the office initially one day a week, and then, beginning in the third week, two days a week. This transitional period will now be extended from four to six weeks.

We will then begin the hybrid pilot in full on May 23, with people coming to the office three days a week — on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday — and working flexibly on Wednesday and Friday if you wish.

Though the timing may vary to some degree in different countries/sites based on local conditions, we will follow the same process wherever we are not yet back in the office. You’ll hear more details from your local teams on specific timing as it applies to your location.

As a reminder, our offices and many services like Caffè Macs and our espresso bars are currently open and many people are already coming in each week. Between now and April 11, I encourage you to join them, whether it’s to grab coffee with a colleague, check out your workspace, or hold a team meeting.

Due to the decline in active cases, most, if not all of Apple’s U.S. sites will revert to being mask-optional over the next few weeks. As always, we will continue monitoring local conditions and are prepared to adjust our protocols as necessary for the health of our teams and communities. 

I also want to make clear that you are always welcome to wear a mask and you should feel comfortable doing so. And I want to reiterate the vital importance of getting the vaccine and a booster if you are able to. You can always find the latest on our protocols on Welcome Forward.

For many of you, I know that returning to the office represents a long-awaited milestone and a positive sign that we can engage more fully with the colleagues who play such an important role in our lives. For others, it may also be an unsettling change. 

I want you to know that we are deeply committed to giving you the support and flexibility that you need in this next phase — a commitment that begins with this gradual introduction of our hybrid pilot and includes the option to work remotely for up to four weeks a year. If you have any questions, you can find more details on the People site.

As we begin this pilot, we are looking forward to learning as we go and adjusting where we need to, all in service of fostering a really collaborative and flexible approach to our work together.

In the meantime, I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to being together again. And I want to thank each and every one of you. Whether you’ve been working from home or coming into our stores, labs, or offices, you have been an essential part of this incredible team, and I am so grateful for all that you bring to Apple.

In the coming weeks and months, we have an opportunity to combine the best of what we have learned about working remotely with the irreplaceable benefits of in-person collaboration. 

It is as important as ever that we support each other through this transition, through the challenges we face as a team and around the world. I look forward to being together and to learning together during this pilot as we continue to build on the culture that makes Apple such an incredible place. 



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