Apple employees are organizing to push for ‘real change’ at the company

A group of current and former Apple employees are calling on their colleagues to publicly share stories of discrimination, harassment and retaliation they experienced while working at the company. The call to action went up on Monday when the collective started a Twitter account called Apple Workers. 

“For too long, Apple has evaded public scrutiny,” the group says on its website. “When we press for accountability and redress to the persistent injustices we witness or experience in our workplace, we are faced with a pattern of isolation, degradation and gaslighting.”

The protesting workers say they’ve exhausted all internal avenues for a remedy from the company, which is why they’re going public with their complaints. “We’ve talked with our leadership. We’ve gone to the People team. We’ve escalated through Business Conduct. Nothing has changed,” they say. “It’s time to Think Different.”

According to The Verge, about 15 individuals were involved in organizing the effort. Earlier today, they shared the news on a 200-person Discord server for Apple employees and contractors. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment.

The action comes as Apple faces questions over its handling of sexism in the workplace. In August, the company put Ashley Gjøvik, a senior engineering program manager, on paid administrative leave. In a series of tweets, Gjøvik shared several interactions with the company’s employee relations team. One of those details is an episode in which a manager referred to her “tone” in presentations and said, “I didn’t hear you going up an octave at the end of your statements.” Apple is currently investigating Gjøvik’s allegations.

“There is much more information about my story and my concerns about Apple work conditions that I have not made public yet,” Gjøvik says on a website she created to chronicle her experience at the company. “I only resorted to this because everything I tried internally has failed.”