William Gallagher
An internal Slack channel discussing Apple's remote working plans is under threat as the company is to enforce its rule limiting channels to specific project work.
Apple staff have already written two letters asking for more flexible remote working options — and Apple has postponed return to work until October.
However, internally, arguments are continuing among staff in a Slack channel. According to Zoe Schiffer of The Verge, staff are objecting to how the most recent letter proposed pay cuts for remote workers.
The last letter Apple employees wrote advocating for remote work sparked a bit of controversy internally. It included a proposal for location-based pay cuts for fully remote employees. Some felt like this could unfairly disadvantage women and people of color.
— Zoe Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) July 27, 2021
Schiffer says that the staff who wrote the second letter have pointed out that Apple "already adjusts pay for fully remote workers outside the Bay Area."
"Apple has made it clear that the earliest it'll ask employees to return to the office is October," she continues. "Still, internally, people feel like the company isn't listening to their demands."
The debate is reportedly taking place in an internal Slack channel with around 6,000 Apple staff. However, Schiffer says that this channel is now under threat.
"Apple also recently began cracking down on Slack channels that aren't directly related to work," she says. "The company bans channels 'for activities and hobbies' that aren't directly related to projects or part of official employee groups — but this wasn't always enforced, employees say."
UPDATE July 29, 2021: 09:50 AM Easter: Sources with knowledge of the matter have contacted AppleInsider to say that is not correct that Apple is cracking down on the Slack channels. They claim that the channels concerned are still up and in use.
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
19 Comments
Closing the Slack channel comes off as rather petty. It's not like it will stop the discussions, they'll just move somewhere else online, Discord maybe, or one of the other dozen similar tools. This whole situation is making Apple look bad, and I'm sure headhunters from other companies with more flexible work plans are circling to pick off the best people.
Seems like the employees have had a taste of what it is like to add a bit of balance to work/life b/c they're not spending hours sitting in SV traffic anymore. It will be hard for all companies in the area to overcome the new SV work/life balance. But the employees will need to understand that the reason they make so much crazy money is b/c they are willing to shift the balance to work, if not then pay will be adjusted accordingly.
Might be the beginning of the SV exodus.