Apple Will Only Let Its Employees Telework On Wednesday And Friday

Apple has already communicated to its employees the hybrid plan back to the office that will be implemented in the autumn and has surprised the rigidity of the approach, since they will only be able to continue working remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays if the head of each section authorizes it. .

It will be from September when the technology giant ends the total teleworking system that has been applied since the pandemic broke out. The hybrid model that CEO Tim Cook exposed by letter to workers and that The Verge has advanced involves assistance on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and leaves the authorization for employees to work remotely on Wednesdays to the management of each team and on Fridays.

To promote family reconciliation, employees will have the opportunity to telework up to two weeks a year , “to be closer to family and loved ones, find a change of scenery, manage unexpected trips or a different reason”, according to the explanation by Cook.

Speaking to CNBC , Kate Lister, president of the research and consulting firm Global Workplace Analytics, has valued as “a little strange” the announcement of Apple, not because of the 3/2 system “but in the fact that they are specifying on business days such as Monday, Tuesday and Thursday throughout the company. “

Although he sees certain advantages in the little flexibility (knowing in advance who will be in the office, knowing the number of people to specify needs such as cleaning services or food …) he also considers that limiting the autonomy of employees could lead people to give up. And it is that according to a survey of 1,000 adults and published by BloombergIn May, 39% of Americans would consider quitting if their companies weren’t flexible about telecommuting in the future.

Apple’s plan is known when those of some of its biggest competitors have already transcended. Google announced in April that in September it would also implement a system of three days of office work for two days from home, but in its case it does not specify the specific days on which workers will have to go to the office.

Microsoft, for its part, will allow employees to telecommute half the time or full time if authorized by the team manager. Even more permissive will be Facebook . Last summer, its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, estimated that half of the organization will continue to work remotely for the next five to 10 years.

It is Twitter, however, the technology giant that has opted to allow teleworking “forever” for employees who prefer this system. This was announced in May 2020, in the midst of a pandemic.