Remote row | Apple exec's move to Google over office return plan shows WFH still crucial to HR

An Apple executive who quit in protest over the firm’s return-to-office plans has joined Google, where the rules on home working are currently less stringent.

Tech behemoth Apple announced it would soon be mandatory for US employees to go into the office three days a week, with a phased return to hybrid working beginning in April, bringing employees back to work for one day a week initially.

The full Hybrid Work Pilot – in which employees work in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and “flexibly” on Wednesdays and Fridays – was set to begin on 23rd May. However, earlier this week the company announced it was delaying its return-to-office plans partly due to rising COVID cases in the area of its California headquarters.

Tim Cook has previously stated that in-person work and collaboration is “irreplaceable”, but many of his employees disagree. An open letter signed by 1,043 current and former Apple staff was recently circulated to the tech company’s Executive Committee, stating that the company’s Hybrid Work Pilot “does not recognize flexible work and is only driven by fear. Fear of the future of work, fear of worker autonomy, fear of losing control.”