Apple Requiring Employees to Return to Office 3x Per Week Starting on September 5

[ceriess]

Work from home has given me so much more:

Sleep: I can sleep a full 2 hours longer in the morning. This means I can be flexible and stay up a little later after kids are in bed.

Diet: I can prepare fresh food from my fridge on my own appliances for lunch. I can also start dinner at a more appropriate time. I do not have to dine out or package and preserve meals. This saves hours on meal preparation.

Money: I was driving 41 miles (65KM) one way to work each day. I would pay $14/day in fuel. $3640/year. 21,000 miles/year. Tires are good for 60,000 miles. Oil change every 7500 miles. The cost savings are huge.

Time with my family: With no commute, I am far less burnt out after work and more likely to have energy to spend with the wife / kids. My wife takes our autistic children to their speech and OT therapy during the day and I am home (in case of emergency) with the other kids. I can run to McDonalds as a treat for the family, I can run to the grocery store on my lunch break and have the food in the fridge within an hour.

Health: All this has added up. Without the time in the car, and more sleep in my schedule, I am much more apt to visit the gym. My labs at the doctor and my BMI have all shifted from the yellow/red warning ranges down to green. I was being seen by my physician every 3-6 months. Last visit, he said "see you in a year!" Goodbye pre-diabetes, hypertension.

Honestly the best thing that has ever happened to me. My performance evaluations have been awesome and we have only had 2-3 (out of 100) staff that have struggled since remote work.

But my administration misses my smiling face, so eventually more than likely.... Time to head back to the office that's always either too hot or too cold and do the exact same work on the exact same laptop I have at home. Public toilets. Odds of an accident on the interstate freeway are 1 in 107 to die. Worth it, right?

Consider yourself the lucky generation. If you got student loan forgiveness even more so. Now it’s time to get back to work. Drive carefully.

 

[kjvmartin]

Consider yourself the lucky generation. If you got student loan forgiveness even more so. Now it’s time to get back to work. Drive carefully.

lol. I'm a bit old for that. I never stopped working. Most efficient I've ever been. Amazing what proper sleep and diet can do, and the time to attain those is readily available working from home.

 

[I7guy]

Yes, lockdown proved you can get work done from home. But in Apple's case they want people to return to the office. With so many varied situations, each situation is unique, but that doesn't mean each job can be done from home equally as done from the office.

 

[Sikh]

Yes, lockdown proved you can get work done from home. But in Apple's case they want people to return to the office. With so many varied situations, each situation is unique, but that doesn't mean each job can be done from home equally as done from the office.

I was commenting on his general comment about "getting back to work". Apple wasn't mentioned anywhere in his comment or mine. I understand what apple is doing and have no opinion on it cause I dont work there.

However I will quote and respond to everyone who makes generalized comments about "working from home" and it not being "real work".

 

[jagooch]

I was commenting on his general comment about "getting back to work". Apple wasn't mentioned anywhere in his comment or mine. I understand what apple is doing and have no opinion on it cause I dont work there.

However I will quote and respond to everyone who makes generalized comments about "working from home" and it not being "real work".

This. I'm on the only personal on my team in my state. When I come into the office, I mostly just talk to people I know who work on other teams. It's really inevitable as there are no sound barriers between desk and wearing headphones to focus on your work is considered rude. They don't block conversation very well, anyway. I, for one, cannot read code or examine logs to troubleshoot an issue while a conversation about what bar people are going to after work is going on.

 

[thays133]

This. I'm on the only personal on my team in my state. When I come into the office, I mostly just talk to people I know who work on other teams. It's really inevitable as there are no sound barriers between desk and wearing headphones to focus on your work is considered rude. They don't block conversation very well, anyway. I, for one, cannot read code or examine logs to troubleshoot an issue while a conversation about what bar people are going to after work is going on.

Funny thing about open offices they have found they reduce communication,reduce collaboration, and reduce productivity. The exact opposite of what they claim to do.

Reality open offices are only done for one reason and one reason alone. Reduce cost.

I know if I was forced to go into the office I would not talk with any one else as everyone I work with are in suits cities. None of us are close to the same office as another.

The cross team gains would be none as the local offices are heavier sales and marketing. They are not other engineering team.

I know when I was in office at former employers the only cross team people I talked with were in engineering. I rarely talked with other departments. Hell I was among the few engineers who even talked directly with support and even then only a small handful of that department and where leading their own teams so they were supports reps to engineering.

 

[seek3r]

Funny thing about open offices they have found they reduce communication,reduce collaboration, and reduce productivity. The exact opposite of what they claim to do.

Reality open offices are only done for one reason and one reason alone. Reduce cost.

I know if I was forced to go into the office I would not talk with any one else as everyone I work with are in suits cities. None of us are close to the same office as another.

The cross team gains would be none as the local offices are heavier sales and marketing. They are not other engineering team.

I know when I was in office at former employers the only cross team people I talked with were in engineering. I rarely talked with other departments. Hell I was among the few engineers who even talked directly with support and even then only a small handful of that department and where leading their own teams so they were supports reps to engineering.

Yup, this

My former boss (I shifted teams during the pandemic, more senior role on a bigger related team), who was the director the office I worked out of pre-pandemic, had literally just redone our floor before COV19 (like he was literally posting pictures on teams of some of the backordered common area furniture being delivered midway through 2020)

When he announced the plans for the redo after it had been cleared by corporate he literally told us they had considered individual and team offices and rejected it in favor of keeping the open floor plan to fit more people without buying more office space (that decision aged well lol).

 

[temende]

At this point, I don't even interview for jobs that aren't fully remote.

 

[kkee]

The only complain I have with WFO vs WFH is the commute. Miss the time I have to go to gym or walk on the beach instead of sitting on traffic.

 

[jagooch]

At this point, I don't even interview for jobs that aren't fully remote.

This will be me pretty soon. I’m updating some skills and my resume this year to find a fully remote job.

It’s not for everyone, but for me I focus and “get in the zone” better without the distractions from side conversations, people bringing food/donuts for the team, and the walk ups.

I often get really distracted while troubleshooting a bug in my code that I miss meetings, anyway.

 

[ceriess]

This will be me pretty soon. I’m updating some skills and my resume this year to find a fully remote job.

It’s not for everyone, but for me I focus and “get in the zone” better without the distractions from side conversations, people bringing food/donuts for the team, and the walk ups.

I often get really distracted while troubleshooting a bug in my code that I miss meetings, anyway.

You kids are gonna be CONTRACTORS! Too funny that most of you can’t see what’s coming.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

My work place is doing the same thing. 3 days in office required. My job necessitates my physical presence. So for me it's meh. But few of my coworkers have to deal with some of the WFH people whom have become lazy and entitled. Thinking people on campus should be at their beck and call when it's not really in the person's on campus scope of work.

 

[ericwn]

You kids are gonna be CONTRACTORS! Too funny that most of you can’t see what’s coming.

A preference for WFH has nothing to do with being younger. I’ve worked for ages in offices and do WFH for the last 4+ years exclusively. I’d never go back to an office, and woot, am no contractor.

 

[temende]

You kids are gonna be CONTRACTORS! Too funny that most of you can’t see what’s coming.

Too funny that you're obviously upset about the fact that deep down you know younger people will be able to have happier and better careers while WFH than you did.

 

[ceriess]

Too funny that you're obviously upset about the fact that deep down you know younger people will be able to have happier and better careers while WFH than you did.

I’m 32 years old. You’re screwed if you can’t see what’s coming.

 

[ceriess]

A preference for WFH has nothing to do with being younger. I’ve worked for ages in offices and do WFH for the last 4+ years exclusively. I’d never go back to an office, and woot, am no contractor.

You will be. That’s a fact. Have you been keeping an eye on the Supreme Court docket? You might want to take a peek.

 

[ericwn]

You will be. That’s a fact. Have you been keeping an eye on the Supreme Court docket? You might want to take a peek.

How’s that a fact if it hasn’t occurred yet? Supreme Court applies everywhere now?