The pandemic puts executives at large companies like Apple in check, as their employees want flexibility to continue working remotely

Employees’ refusal to return to Apple’s offices may be indicative of a “widening gulf” that could emerge between employers and staff if companies fail to properly manage their return to the office and make remote work more flexible.

After decades in which employers had the final say on where, when and how work gets done, we’ve reached the other end of the spectrum in the last year, says Alexia Cambon, research director at Gartner.

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“Employees have had more control over those dimensions of work and have realized the impact that those dimensions of work have on their lives,” he tells Business Insider, commenting on the challenge employers will face. Suddenly having to give up control over them becomes incredibly personal.

In June, about 80 Apple employees they expressed their frustration for feeling “unheard” and “ignored”, in an internal letter to Tim Cook following the announcement of his plans to return to the office three days a week – Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays – starting in September.

Instead, these employees want those who can telecommute to do so. In turn, they claim that Apple’s policy caused the resignation of some colleagues.

The company appears to have redoubled its position, despite these complaints.

According The Verge, Deirdre O’Brien, Senior Vice President of Retail Sales and Staff Apple in the UK, he stated in a video that there are likely to be few totally remote outposts in the future.

Most people want flexibility when it comes to going back to work

Entrepreneurs around the world differ in their approach to the post-coronavirus office world.

David SolomonThe CEO of Goldman Sachs, for example, has called remote work an “aberration” and told employees to prepare for a widespread return to the physical office once coronavirus restrictions end.

Facebook, on the other hand, will allow all employees who can perform their functions from home to do so.

Data from an external survey indicates that those who want to telecommuting Full-time at Apple, which has a global workforce of more than 160,000 people, might be a minority.

Only 11% of workers said they wanted to be totally remote in the future, according to a global survey by McKinsey of 5,043 full-time employees between December 2020 and January 2021. Although the majority of respondents (52%) do some kind of flexible work after Covid.

Gartner research suggests that 68% of employees who teleworked during the pandemic favor a hybrid model going forward, Cambon says.

Anxiety about lack of clarity

The “initial issues” between staff and employers are likely to center on location, Cambon says.

Much of the conversation about the importance of going back to the office is driven by the emphasis that the physical office is better for innovation and collaboration.

This runs counter to the experience of many telecommuters, many of whom have been able to collaborate well, he adds.

Organizations that apply “listening strategies” that provide data to and make employees feel heard — and then design hybrid work around it — are less likely to have problems, he says.

Gartner’s own research suggests that 45% of employees agree that their long-term preferences for flexible working are not taken seriously enough by management.

Additionally, the McKinsey data suggests that it could be detrimental for companies to be unclear about their post-pandemic plans. 47% of workers agree, or strongly agree, that the lack of a clear vision about going back to the office causes them concern or anxiety.

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