Apple's recent workplace mutiny may have changed its culture forever

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Nachiket Mhatre

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Last updated on May 26, 2021, 05:18 pm

While Apple may still have a vice-like grip over its uncanny, but wildly successful approach to hardware, it is gradually losing control over the rest of its organizational edifices. For starters, there's a chance that Epic might win its court case, punching an irreparable hole in the iOS walled garden. However, The Verge points out that cracks might be showing even in its workplace.

Employee protests against company decisions are unprecedented for Apple

Employee protests at Google aren't out of the ordinary, but the same happening at Apple is unprecedented. However, that is exactly what happened when Apple hired Antonio Garcia Martinez from Facebook. More than 2,000 Apple employees filed a petition protesting Martinez's hiring citing his book's misogyny. He had remarked that Bay Area women are "full of shit" in his book Chaos Monkeys.

Several female Apple employees tweeted their reservations against 'misogynistic' hire

Several female Apple employees took to Twitter to express their reservations against the high-profile hire. This is unheard of in a company that actively discourages employees from sharing work-related opinions. However, Apple's hiring of a senior executive known to make politically incorrect and harsh statements about former colleagues in writing was unequivocally at odds with the company's PR position.

Apple has crossed the Rubicon by conceding to employee protests

As a consequence, Apple was compelled to fire Martinez two weeks into his employment. This is significant because by doing so the iPhone-maker has crossed the Rubicon by acquiescing to employee pressure. This is a big deal for a corporation that is known to force unpopular decisions such as removing the headphone jack.

Martinez claims excerpt from book taken out of context

It is unclear if Martinez plans on suing Apple, but he claims the excerpt from his book was taken out of context and was originally meant as the punchline to a joke directed at his then-girlfriend. In fact, Forbes contributor Robert Zafft bluntly puts it, "Had he [Martinez] robbed, raped, or killed someone, his job might well have been more secure."

Legality of Apple's decision to fire Martinez is questionable

That incredibly isn't a hyperbole as California labor laws not only prohibit employers from punishing employees for political activities and beliefs that don't affect their work, but they also protect ex-convicts from discrimination. Martinez's book was written prior to joining Apple and there is no evidence of his conduct at the company warranting the drastic action. This is Apple unequivocally capitulating to employee pressure.

Apple joins its Big Tech peers battling mounting employee mutinies

Interestingly, this puts Apple in the same boat as the rest of its Big Tech peers, who have been compelled to hire anti-union consultants to quell the rising phenomenon of employee protest culture. Such protests against company policies not only lead to public embarrassment and but also cost them lucrative contracts. Although democracy might work for countries, it isn't conducive for successful businesses.