Apple needs to learn to listen better to its employees

It’s restless at Apple. Employees are making themselves heard more and more and it is time for the company to listen. That’s better for everyone.

AppleToo: time for the company to listen

A small group of Apple employees has started the #AppleToo movement. Referring to the #MeToo movement, these employees speak out about their experiences of racism, sexism, discrimination and more unacceptable behavior at the company.

Specifically, these workers are marginalized groups, such as black and indigenous workers, who they believe face isolation, degradation and gaslighting.

The AppleToo folks write on their website, where they ask other Apple employees to tell their own story, that they experience a “culture of secrecy” at the company and see Apple as an “opaque, intimidating fortress.”

Mysterious

It is not news that employees themselves experience Apple as secretive. There were employees who didn’t know the company was making an iPad until Steve Jobs unveiled the device on stage. And that while they had worked on the device themselves. In 2015, a former company intern opposed Business Insider to be surprised that the company was running so well this way, with teams working completely separate from each other in secret.

Meanwhile, Apple’s employees have become more assertive, which makes it clear that this way of working is not sustainable after all. For example, the employees publicly expressed their dismay at the fact that Apple would like to have them back in the office, while working from home works so well in practice. Apple employees also grumbled that Apple has no vision for the smart home, for example by not releasing a cheaper version of the Apple TV.

There is also a lot of criticism within Apple about the plan to scan photos on iPhones and iPads in search of child abuse. There is a fear that this feature can easily be abused by other governments.

slack

The reason Apple employees are now more empowered than before is precisely because they work for the company from home. Instead of being kept separate from each other in the office, they now sit together in the Slack app. Channels can be created in this application to chat with hundreds or thousands of Apple colleagues about specific topics.

Such was the channel #remote-work-advocacy the start of jointly asking Apple to be able to work from home longer. Successfully. In #women-in-swe More than 2,000 female software engineers gathered to voice concerns about hiring a man who has made misogynistic comments in the past. This man was subsequently fired.

Now there’s the AppleToo website, and there’s even supposed to be a server on Discord to talk to each other about issues within the company.

Innovation

Apple has a wealth of diverse employees who feel unheard. People who understand Apple well and see the world in different ways. For example, because they are closer to the consumer and see how big the market is for cheaper products.

Eventually, most Apple employees will have to go back to the office and Apple will close the Slack again. However, it is unwise to continue in the old way.

Apple needs to learn to listen better to its employees. This not only ensures a healthier company, but hopefully also more innovation. These empowered employees not only stand up for their own rights, but also for those of the consumer. Time for the channel #revolution?