Apple is staying firm on its requirements for staff to return to the office from September, despite a widely-circulated protest letter from employees.

Around 80 Apple employees collaborated on the letter, which explains: “Without the inclusivity that flexibility brings, many of us feel we have to choose between either a combination of our families, our well-being, and being empowered to do our best work, or being a part of Apple.”

Employees claim to be “not just unheard, but at times actively ignored” in regards to their preference for remote work.

“It feels like there is a disconnect between how the executive team thinks about remote/location-flexible work and the lived experiences of many of Apple’s employees,” the letter said.

Senior VP Deirdre O’Brien isn’t having it, however.

“We believe that in-person collaboration is essential to our culture and our future,” she said in a video to staff.

“If we take a moment to reflect on our unbelievable product launches this past year, the products and the launch execution were built upon the base of years of work that we did when we were all together in-person.”

This comes after Tim Cook sent an all-company email in early June, that required staff to work from the office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from September – making the other two weekdays optional work-from-home days.