Two years after the pandemic, companies continue establishing remote work policies. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, told Business Insider that “We´re running the mother of all experiments because we don´t know,” he mentioned after establishing that they are running a pilot seeking the best solution that matches hybrid and onsite work.
Apple was one of the most controversial companies when they started calling their employees back at the office. Petitions with thousands of employees signed, and being called out publicly, made the company take a step back to redefine its policies. And while they focus on maintaining an onsite culture, they are also flexible in working toward building a hybrid model.
Apple & Remote Work
Cook said he preferred the “serendipity” of in-person collaboration. However, he knows that virtual interactions are valuable: “They are not inferior, just different.”
Apple has changed its views on remote work. Last year, they were more determined to continue with its original onsite model. However, after complaints and resignals, this changed. Ian Goodfellow, for instance, is the company´s former machine learning director, said that one of the reasons he resigned was due to the inflexible nature of Apple in terms of remote work. He told The Verge:
“I believe strongly that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team.”
Cook said Apple would find a model that takes advantage of the strengths of both in-person and virtual engagement.
