Apple Work-Life Balance: From Hours to Benefits, Everything You Need to Know

Working at Apple sounds like the dream come true for most. Imagine saying that you’re employed at one of the biggest tech companies in the world next to the likes of Microsoft, Facebook, or Google. Of course, the bragging rights of being an employee is only one of the benefits of working for the juggernaut.

At Apple, the total compensation for software engineers alone averages over $150,000 a year. But what is Apple’s work-life balance, and work culture? And does Apple allow remote work? All in all, is Apple a good company to work for?

Is Apple a Good Company to Work For?

Glassdoor and Indeed provide real insights from former and current Apple employees to show that, overall, Apple is a good company to work for.

In terms of compensation alone, Apple’s work benefits and salaries are higher than those offered by other major tech companies. The benefits of working for Apple are some of the best you’ll find from any company, including, but not limited to:

• Fertility assistance (unique to Apple)
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• Employee discounts
• Maternity leave
• Retirement
• Health and wellness programs, including gym credit

As can be seen, the gap between salaries at FAANG companies increases dramatically between Apple and Microsoft with experience.

What is Apple’s Work Culture like?

As one of the largest technology firms at the forefront of creativity, it’s not surprising that Apple’s culture is innovative. Life at Apple needs to remain engaging, inclusive, unique and inspiring to retain talented employees across the globe.

Apple is part of a competitive industry, and it needs the best professionals that there. Their competitive edge, according to Investopedia, is due to their innovation and willingness to explore outside options, such as streaming with Apple TV+.

Engineers, marketing geniuses, and business professionals are always in high demand, and Apple knows it must provide a culture of creativity and comfort to not only keep their employees but help them achieve their maximum potential.

That said, while the tech company promises an inclusive and inspiring culture with a strong positive public image, everyone has individual experiences. Some employees have even stepped forward to admit that Apple keeps everything secure and tight-lipped to the point where they feel they can’t even mention their work to their own families.

Business Insider gives an example of Apple’s secrecy shining light on how some employees don’t even know the product they’re working on. An Apple intern by the name of Brad stated, "They had no idea. It wasn't until the product release where Steve Jobs went on stage and showed the iPad that they realized this is what we worked on for the past two years."

What is Apple’s Work-Life Balance like?

The work-life balance at Apple, like any company, completely depends on the position. When it comes to software engineers at Apple, they rank right in the middle of the big-name tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon. Unsurprisingly, Amazon ranks the lowest of all tech companies.

Work-life balance comparison between Microsoft and Apple

In a head-to-head battle of ratings on Glassdoor between Apple and Microsoft, employees rated the latter 0.5 higher than Apple regarding a work-life balance rating.

Current and former Apple employees have complained of a less-than-ideal work-life balance compared to Microsoft, according to Indeed and Glassdoor. Some employees have admitted that, depending on your role at Apple, the long hours have affected their family life. Burnout while working at Apple is rife. Work-life balance was “non-existent,” according to a 2015 Business Insider piece. This was apparent in a tone-deaf ad that was pulled by Apple after a lot of backlash before the pandemic.

In 2021, during an almost never-ending COVID-19 pandemic, Apple continued to push back against their employee’s demand for fully remote options.

However, as more employees came out in public protest of Apple’s work-life balance, Apple’s human resources department buckled and came up with flexible work arrangements to include remote options.

Does Apple Allow Remote Work?

Like other major tech companies, the Apple work from home policy has shifted with the coronavirus pandemic. For most staff during the pandemic, their work was 100% remote.

However, the Apple work from home policy changed recently after CEO Tim Cook announced that they needed staff to make their return to the office at least two days a week. After some compromise, Apple requires staff to come in for three-day weeks in the office.

On a department-by-department basis, even before the pandemic, Apple didn’t have the best work from home policy. With other big tech companies offering flexible work from home options, it’s Apple’s insistence on privacy and security that forces many positions to remain in the controlled environment of an office.

Even with new variants of the COVID-19 virus keeping companies from returning to normal, Apple is still very strict in its remote work policy. Instead, Apple is relying on their higher-than-average pay and benefits to retain a workforce wanting more flexibility, according to a CNBC report. Other tech companies understand this and are offering remote positions that Apple just doesn’t want to offer.

Unhappy about the company’s strict remote policy, the exodus of Apple employees to other tech companies that offer more flexible remote options, such as Google, puts pressure on Apple to offer flexible remote options to retain their workforce.

The backlash over Apple’s remote work policy shows just how important remote work is to a healthy work-life balance. A work-life balance, many employees believe, is almost non-existent in the office. Hopefully, Apple management can make accommodations for the workforce to have a healthy work-life balance with remote options, but for now, it’s a wait-and-see game with Apple.