The negative aspect at Apple is its growth. Apple, in some ways, has grown to become the behemoth company it stood against in its infancy. Apple is, on its surface, an incredible place to work, but Apple is struggling with becoming a giant corporation like any other thriving tech company. It would be difficult to explain without proper context. I'll share some of my personal experience.
I worked at Apple's corporate campus between four and five years. I excelled in every role I was placed and was quickly promoted through several different groups during my tenure. I was chosen for my last promotion at Apple over at least 250 other applicants. This promotion was on a 'technical path' while I was being groomed for a path in management. I accepted a position in Apple's 'engineering group' over pursuing a management role. This was considered a extremely desirable promotion and a reflection of my hard work.
I excelled in this role as well. I had worked approx. three months in this group before I was taken into an office to be interrogated by Apple's HR group. They explained I had become the subject of HR complaint. This was the first time I had ever had any interaction with HR or been the subject of any disciplinary action whatsoever in my entire tenure as an Apple employee.
Apple's HR group made the decision to terminate my employment over their interpretation of Apple's business conduct policies regarding tobacco and 'electronic cigarette' use. I was assured by my management team that the decision was made entirely by Apple's HR group. In other words, my management team was not consulted and this had nothing to do with my performance at work. I was urged to appeal the decision by virtually every manager and peer I had at Apple.
The decision/interpretation that led to my termination also led to a series of meetings to clarify Apple's policies on this subject. Numerous employees at Apple Inc. use personal vaporizers or 'electronic cigarettes' as smoking cessation devices. Naturally, my termination led to fairly serious questions about HR's interpretation of 'tobacco use' and 'personal vaporizer' use. HR's own support could not give a singular answer on this subject, so management had to demand clarification on what the policy actually states before any one else was terminated on the same grounds. The understanding being that if I was somehow guilty of violating Apple's policies so were many other people working on that campus at that time.
During my appeal, HR stated that the clarifications made to the policies regarding this subject did not apply to my termination because they were made the day after my termination. This ignored the fact that the decision to terminate my employment with Apple was directly responsible for the push for management to seek that very clarification. Furthermore, it was verified by my co-workers that I was never a part of the conversation that was originally cited in the complaint to HR in the first place. In fact, I had never met or spoke with the person who originally made the complaint to begin with. Finally, HR's representative who handled my appeal made several statements that indicated she did not have a fundamental understanding of the events or policies that led to my termination. This being the result of two months of 'research' she claimed she was doing on my appeal's case. I feel it's also important to note that the group that made this decision also resides in California. It's likely they had never stepped foot on our campus.
I hope this illustrates the issue well enough. This is the kind of corporate behavior you would expect to find in a Terry Gilliam film or a Franz Kafka novel. This is not the behavior I expected from a company that I was fiercely loyal to and loved working at. I can't help shake the feeling that somebody was 'making their numbers' when it came to my case.
It's a more than a little ironic that Apple would have such archaic policies regarding the use of personal vaporizers given the nature of their business and interests in health devices.
The experience of working for the company is exemplary. It is everything you would expect working for a company that is dedicated to releasing innovative products that have a huge impact on the way people live their lives.
However, if HR's gaze falls upon you no one at Apple can save your career from the faults in their interpretations.
Tim Cook could probably stop this from happening. He didn't respond to my emails.
