Apple appears to have taken an extreme next step in pushing ahead with its return-to-office mandate, leaving many employees facing a tough decision.
Zoë Schiffer of Platformer explained in a tweet (opens in new tab) that the iPhone maker is tracking employees’ attendance via their badge records as it stands its ground on a three-day-per-week policy.
Workers failing to adhere could face “escalating warnings” that in some cases are said to be leading to termination, however the precise details of any consequences remain undercover, for now at least.
Apple return to office
After being forced to send workers home during the pandemic, Apple gradually started to require employees to return to the office in a hybrid working setup. Its latest policy, as of September 2022, is that workers should be in the office at least three days per week.
However, the precise routine differs from team to team with some employees needed at their formal workplace location full-time, and others slightly more flexible.
More recently, the company has been slated for delaying workers’ bonuses, shifting them from twice per year to once.
Amid swathes of other cost-cutting measures, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained that layoffs would be a “last resort”, however introducing a policy whereby employees would be putting themselves at risk for failing to comply could lay the foundation for dismissals.
Apple did not immediately respond to TechRadar Pro’s request for more information on its return-to-office policy and related employee tracking.
More broadly, the general sentiment for a mass return to office seems somewhat mixed. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy gave workers a May deadline which was met with as many as 14,000 sharing their dissatisfaction via a Slack channel and subsequently creating a petition, while Google’s office policy has been partly contradicted by Google Cloud’s request that its workers share desks on alternate days – another move met with huge disgruntlement.
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