For the first time in their career, many employees did something their employers said simply was not possible; working remote. The global pandemic forced many businesses to adjust the way they think about employment. Employers chose to adopt temporary long-term work from home policies. Now that the pandemic appears to be coming to a close, some employers are mandating a return to the office. The question remains, how do employees feel about returning to in-office work? A recent study by Equifax suggested that 55% of employees would resign if they were forced to return to an office. That study sounds bold in theory, but what about in practice?
Apple is a forward-leaning, progressive technology company with all the tools to work remotely. They offer bleeding-edge technology products that allow many businesses to operate in a remote environment. How do we know? Apple recently created and promoted an advertisement for their products aptly titled, Escape from the Office. This eight minute video demonstrates how workers can leverage Apple products to effectively work from home. One would presume that Apple would fully support a work from home policy for their own employees. Apparently not. Apple released the video advertisement in parallel to the roll out of their “Return to Work” policy. The FAANG company is forcing employees back to the office by April 11th. As you can imagine, the news was not well received by all employees.
Several Apple employees agreed to speak with me on the condition of anonymity. The new Apple policy was poorly received by all individuals. The most commonly cited word was “hypocritical.” They couldn’t believe that Apple would release Escape from the Office while instituting a return to work policy. Apparently the video and policy were a common theme in a Slack channel with over 8,100 Apple employees. One worker said, “It’s so hypocritical” and “ there’s not much I can do about it unless I want to quit my job.” Another employee shared similar sentiments. “They [Apple] completely lack self-awareness” and “I’m just going to keep doing my job and look for another remote position. Most tech companies are 100% remote now.” Some workers were also disappointed because Apple surprisingly lacks the resources to support an onsite workforce. Conference rooms are at a premium and Apple seemingly cannot sustain the demand for space. Employees are forced to commute to an office under high gas prices, only to work out of cubicles for virtual meetings that could easily be accommodated at home.
Companies can mandate return to work policies if they choose, but they should fully expect low adoption rates and high attrition amongst employees. As I previously wrote in The Goldman Effect, many companies are unsuccessfully attempting to bring employees back to the office after a two-year hiatus. Numerous studies suggest that Millennials and Gen Z employees think it’s fine to have short stints of employment. A recent Fox News poll suggested that 80% of Millenials and Gen Z workers are ok with leaving jobs in less than six months. Why should they be concerned? There are over 11.3 million open positions available in the United States alone. If employees are not getting what they want out of their current employment situation, they have ample choices elsewhere. Companies like Apple did not create the “Great Resignation,” however policies such as these will further perpetuate movement in the job market.
