Apple Employees With Kids Feel 'Overworked' Amid Coronavirus Lockdown

The 2019 novel coronavirus has changed the way people live since it started to spread from China to other countries around the world months ago. It has forced many to stay inside their homes to keep safe, affecting businesses and companies in many ways.

Some tech companies, in response to the pandemic, started to allow employees to work remotely from the relative comfort and safety of their homes. A new report from CNet, however, reveals that while these employees are safe from the virus that's spreading on the streets, they aren't safe from the added pressures that adjusting to a work-from-home environment brings.

Employees working for Apple told CNet that they feel overworked now that they are working from home amid the pandemic. These employees, along with others from several companies in Silicon Valley, said they need to balance doing well at their jobs while still being able to take care of their family members -- their kids.

Apple told CNet that since the COVID-19 outbreak began, it has increased communication with managers and employees. It has also “encouraged” its 137,000 employees to ask for help or accommodation from the company.

Cupertino said managers have been told to proactively help the company's employees. This includes offering flexibility for employees with added family responsibilities, such as parents who need to work reduced hours to take care of their kids, or caregivers who need time to care for the elderly at home.

“No deadline is too important, and no priority is more urgent, than caring for our loved ones,” Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said. “Our goal is to be flexible, collaborative and accommodating of every parent and caregiver on our teams.”

“This is a trying time for everyone — especially parents — and we want to do all we can to support every member of our Apple family,” Huguet added.

Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies, told CNet that it's likely that the crisis brought about by COVID-19 will change many things about what people prioritize: be it life, family, and work. It might also change the work culture inside companies with non-stop work culture, such as Apple, Google and Facebook.

“I'm hoping this is going to help us afterward to be more flexible,” Milanesi said. “I'm hoping it will humanize workers more.”