Former Apple Managers Discuss the Company’s Crazy Work Culture

People who work at Apple “are nuts” — at least according to two former managers who used to work at Apple.

Don Melton and Nitin Ganatra, two former managers at Apple, told all in the most recent episode of Debug, a podcast about developers and the tech industry. During the course of the episode, the two discussed a range of topics concerning the sometimes chaotic and constantly busy work culture at Cupertino.

Among the more interesting anecdotes are stories about how intense the work ethic can be amongst Apple employees — indeed, hard work seems to be a requirement to survive at the company, according to the two. “There is no way you can cruise through a job at Apple. That does not happen for anybody I’ve ever seen,” Melton said at one point.

Melton, who worked under Senior Vice President Scott Forstall, said that the work schedule was hectic — and at times, he was expected to be working at home answering emails from Sunday morning up until 2 a.m. Monday.

“And by the way, when you hear the so called apocryphal stories about Tim Cook coming to work at the wee hours and staying late, it’s not just some PR person telling you stories to make you think that Apple executives work really hard like that,” Melton revealed. “They really do that. I mean, these people are nuts. They’re just, they are there all the time.”

At other points during the podcast, Melton and Ganatra reiterate that Apple’s work culture is “intense” — particularly under co-founder Steve Jobs. Both were quick to add that Apple execs were not mean or spiteful, just intense. “They’re looking for the answers, you have the answer, and you cannot get the answer to them soon enough,” Ganatra added.

All in all, the episode is chock full of other interesting stories about what it’s like to work at Apple — including how the dynamic shifted once Steve Jobs returned to the company he founded. Whether you’re a fan of Apple or a tech-scene enthusiast, it’s certainly worth a listen.