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Comment by andrewjf | Hacker News Reader

I doubt Apple is forcing people back to the office without regard for what remote work proponents are saying. At the end of the day, once debate has ended, which is clearly has (at Apple, anyway), isn't it the company's decision and you can leave or deal with it?

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We will see. If bigger companies like Apple do allow it, smaller ones will be incentivized to also adopt broader remote work policies or risk losing employees to the former.

Right, if it makes Apple less competitive then Apple leadership has to deal with that.

They're betting on that not being the case (at least not enough to change one of their defining work-culture tenants -- face to face, in-person work is more productive and innovative). Only time will tell.

But work is not typically a democracy and there's time for consensus and if it doesn't go your way, you can leave or stay and commit.

I think employee demand is going to make a difference. If enough people demand it, these companies will need to bend.

Employee demand will matter to the extent that there's some level of employer supply in the market. If most employers hold the line, there isn't much for employees to choose from, unless they're one of the very fortunate few who have the luxury of deciding not to work until the appropriate opportunity comes along. If large numbers of employees can't afford to hold out for better WFH policies, then plenty of companies won't need to offer them.

The thing is, a lot of companies are offering 100% now. There is a shift going on. It probably won't be a particularly big shift until larger companies get on board, but it's still moving the status quo little by little.

If so then you're absolutely right. If there ever a small % offering 100% and a larger % offering hybrid, that could be the lever that shifts the boulder.

I don’t think it’s ever this black and white. If enough employees feel strongly enough about this to quit it’s essentially not the companies decision any more (unless they want to sink their own ship).

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