Apple is 2 years into its hybrid work pilot and still doesn't know the right balance

• Apple's hybrid work pilot program is still going two years after it was first proposed.
• It started after employees pushed back against a plan to bring them back to the office three days per week.

Apple has been trying to figure out the proper post-pandemic, hybrid work balance for over two years, and it doesn't sound like they are any closer to an answer.

During an interview this week with "CBS Sunday Morning," Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about his stance on employees returning to the office. He didn't literally shrug his shoulders, but he sounded like it by noting that not much has changed in two years.

"What we did was we admitted we don't know what the best approach is," Cook told CBS. "So what we decided to do was run a pilot where people come into the office three days a week. We deal with user experience, and this requires collaboration. So we knew it had to have a fair amount of in-person work. And we're still in a pilot today."

Apple first announced the pilot program Cook spoke of in June 2021 as pandemic restrictions wound down and people came out into the sun squinting their eyes. However, that plan was pushed back to 2022 due to more COVID-19 spikes.

Apple's new $5 billion headquarters in Cupertino, California, was mostly empty for the first two years of the pandemic due to local government regulations. By mid-2021, the company was seemingly anxious to get people back into the office.

After another attempt to launch the program in early 2022, Apple lost one of its leading artificial intelligence engineers because of the policy.

Other employees also pushed back. Some wrote an anonymous letter to Apple's executives, accusing the pilot program of being driven by "fear of the future of work, fear of worker autonomy, fear of losing control." They later added: "Please get out of our way; there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Let us decide how we work best, and let us do the best work of our lives."

One survey of Apple employees at the time, conducted by the anonymous social network Blind, found that 76% of respondents were "dissatisfied" with Apple's return-to-office policy and 56% said they would look for another job because of the policy.

After more delays, the program finally launched in September 2022. The pilot required employees to return to the office three days per week — Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a third day determined by a team's manager — and increased the number of work-from-home weeks from two to four. Employees had been in the office two days a week before the pilot program.

The company also made a similar plan for employees at their retail locations, with a "retail flex" program. In this case, when working from home, the staff would be assigned duties related to online sales, support, and customer service.

Apple isn't the only company struggling with return-to-office questions. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently noted that he has always been a remote worker and doesn't work well in an office at the same time many of their employees are being required to return to the office. Meanwhile, more research is being produced on the subject and one found that fully remote workers are less productive.

In mid-2022, Cook told employees that the pilot program wasn't set in stone and expected aspects to be adjusted. And while no timeframe was given, he suggested needed changes would come quickly.

"We are excited to move forward with the pilot and believe that this revised framework will enhance our ability to work flexibly, while preserving the in-person collaboration that is so essential to our culture," Cook wrote in an email to staff. "We also know that we still have a lot to learn. And we are committed to listening, adapting, and growing together in the weeks and months ahead."

And yet here we are over a year later, and nothing has seemingly changed. It is starting to look more permanent and less pilot.

Apple did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.