In early June a group of Apple employees openly rebelled against Apple's return to work policy. By the end of June, Apple quietly got the message out that Apple was going ahead with their back to work plan without deviation. Not only are Apple employees not happy with this stance, Google employees aren't as well with Google's determination that employees must return to work, reports Bloomberg. Some Apple employees are threatening to quit to force Apple's hand.

Bloomberg reports that "Google software engineers reported something in a recent survey that surprised higher-ups: they felt as productive working from home as they did before the pandemic.

Internal research at the Alphabet Inc. unit also showed that employees want more 'collaboration and social connections' at work, according to Brian Welle, a human resources vice president. Welle declined to provide exact figures but said “more than 75 per cent” of surveyed employees answered this way. Most staff also specifically craved physical proximity when working on new projects.

'There’s something about innovative work — when you need that spark,' Welle said in an interview. 'Our employees feel like those moments happen better when they’re together.'

That’s partially why, despite the rebound in productivity, the technology giant is sticking with its plan to bring most employees back to offices this fall.

Workers in many industries have decided to quit their jobs rather than give up virtual work. While some tech companies went fully remote during the pandemic, others that haven’t, like Apple Inc., have also dealt with staff resisting a return. You could read more about this part of the story at BNN Bloomberg.

While it's been reported that Apple employees may go the legal route to force the issue with Apple, a video report by BNN Bloomberg has Kevin Coon, a Partner with the law firm Baker McKenzie, a firm I believe Apple has used over time, lays out the issues of fighting an employer about an order to return to work.

The Verge reports today that "Some employees say they will quit if Apple doesn’t change its stance." That's a different story and and we'll have to see how far that threat actually goes.