NEW YORK. Apple calls its employees back to the office. After several failed attempts due to the new waves of Covid, Cupertino returns to the attack and asks workers to take back their seats at their desks at least three days a week starting in September. “Collaboration in person is essential for our culture,” says CEO Tim Cook announcing that physical presence will be required on Tuesdays and Thursdays while the third day will be decided with your managers as needed. The ‘pilot’ return program «will increase the flexibility of work. We know that there is still a lot to learn about it and we are ready to listen and grow together in the coming weeks and months “, notes Cook, emphasizing that this is a pilot initiative that can be revised according to needs.
Apple has been working on returning to office since June 2021 but its plans have been revised several times for Covid. The new rules will initially be implemented at Apple’s central offices, those in Santa Clara county where infections have been decreasing since July, and then spread elsewhere.
Cupertino’s difficulties in outlining a return-to-office strategy reflect those of other Silicon Valley big names in deciding the post-pandemic future. While the pressure is high to return to the ‘old’ normality of all sitting at desks, on the other hand many workers prefer to work remotely and are also willing to resign in order not to return. The risk is therefore that of a talent flight, to which none of the giants of Big Tech wants to expose themselves. In Silicon Valley, Apple is resorting to one of the most stringent back-to-office policies compared to Google, Microsoft and Amazon which have recently shown themselves to be more open to working remotely.
In home Meta Mark Zuckerberg told employees that smart working is encouraged and many of his managers, including Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri and president of global affairs Nick Clegg, quickly took advantage of it.
Amazon last October he explained that the presence in person will be established by the managers and that no requirements would be imposed, but employees are required to be able to reach the office with 24 hours notice.
Per Airbnb employees are free to work anywhere in the country where they are based and for 90 days a year anywhere in 170 countries. The line chosen by Silicon Valley is therefore much softer than that of Wall Street, where many CEOs have long required everyone to be present in person every day, clashing, especially in large cities, with resistance from employees. One example is New York, the American financial capital.
Many reps of Wall Street they would prefer to stay at home instead of being forced to use the subway and expose themselves to an increasingly violent and dirty city, where Covid continues to circulate rapidly. Their opposition to returning to the office clashes not only with that of their bosses but also with that of New York Mayor Eric Adams, a staunch supporter of a 100% reopening to support the city’s economy. So far, however, the wall of employees holds: only 40% of the New York offices are occupied.