I dunno -with gas pushing $5/gallon and driving a non-hybrid, I spend $8 in fuel just with a single round trip to work. Each day. I don't think my toilet paper bill competes with that... ?
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Apple's Corporate Employees Returning to Offices on Hybrid Schedule Starting Today
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Ukraine affects you even if you don't live there. Any other straw man arguments?
I don’t know, I think there are more chances for people to die and/or cause deaths/serious injury from commuting than COVID itself!
I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I’m suggesting to potentially push people to their final days on Earth…
Sarcasm aside, I’ll fight tooth and nail for the possibility to continue to work from home.
I still do my job and actually do it better as I can avoid all the useless meetings about meetings (or when required, just log and toss aside without paying attention to it and continue to work).
Don’t get me started on the hallways political prowess chit chat.
Im also buying an Apple Studio Display effortlessly, why? Because I’m saving at least $150 a month on gas, saving on daily office-buddies-restaurant-lunches (can be $20 a day), the sometimes after work drinks heading into the weekends… I also have time to exercise everyday, eating at home makes me not only save money but lose weight, etc. You are right though, I pay like $20 more a month on electricity (that damn M1 Pro is still not 0 watts efficient sadly).
See, when people insist that I have to go to work no matter what, even when it can be avoided and negotiated, I can take it personal: they are basically insisting that I should stop saving money, should waste time indulging managers and their meetings, fight harder daily against getting fat, potentially be in a car accident (no, “you should be more careful” isn’t a suggestion, accidents happen that’s why insurance is mandatory), etc… well, no thanks, you are free to do that though.
Are coffee breaks and seeing coworkers fun? Yes, totally, it’s not black or white… but myself I can live doing that once a month.
You sir, take the cake of the day with a cookie on the side, some could learn from this example.
I hope too that it continues to work for you and your employees.
Myself I even consider a paycut for the chance to work from a more remote place with 10% of the traffic and chaos of big cities… plus the paycut will be more than offset by the fraction of the cost of housing.
Those that adapt to new situations survive and can find better win-win outcomes.
Um, I can “go to work” at home while not living in fear (including going out to dinner, seeing friends, going to stores, etc). It just means no commute, time with kids, no silly chit chat that is meaningless and wastes a lot of time at work. Heck, most of the people I talk to all day aren’t even in the same state as me (and never were pre-Covid), so why is working from home so bad? Just because it’s not for you? We’ve also been able to take advantage of a US sized labor pool for hiring that never would have existed previously without WFH available as it doesn’t force people to leave their already established homes/family/friends.
Agreed. Neither option is for everyone. It’ll work best for all involved if there is an option, though (at least in most cases, there’s always exceptions).
Not sure how it damaged social skills. Difficult conversations are still difficult no matter how they occur. You have to learn at some point.
My biggest takeaway from all this is that people on the “all employees should always be in the office” train come off as though they only communicate with people sitting next to them. For those of you arguing for only going back to the office and no more WFH, how often do you have phone calls with people you don’t see in person? Or virtual meetings (a lot of companies pay a lot of money to set up really fancy rooms so everyone in one office can fit on camera, for example) pre-Covid? I don’t get acting like there’s this bubble of going back to work meaning nothing but face-to-face time with everyone.
I actually think there’s an opportunity still for (some) companies to dump wasted real estate and office equipment. Yes, for companies like Apple that just built new buildings they are going to lose some face by not filling it (if they went that route), but most investors seem to only be looking short term these days anyway, they’ll forget about it in a couple months.
For all the comments about there being more bugs in the software, do you really think if there’s a big problem when those same employees are working from home that there will just be some magical “aha” moment in the office that brings it all together? Are the employees hiding ideas while on video that they would otherwise have brought to the table? Where’s the rationale in that? If you make the argument that some employees aren’t working as hard at home, I’d buy that for what it’s worth, but there’s just as many, I’d bet, walking around the office just chatting with everyone they come across and not getting a darn thing done otherwise.
TLDR: convince me that EVERYONE needs to be back in an office, because I haven’t seen a single argument yet to demonstrate that. The two most used arguments are: 1) that’s what’s always been done [my least favorite saying ever], 2) people aren’t as productive/haven’t figured out how to wfh successful to keep offering it [then in a lot of those cases, they probably weren’t the greatest employee to begin with].
idk but my "ring in the year" achievement on my Apple Watch (and it's acompanying stickers, one of which was like the ONE sticker I'd use in imessage (the one with the red ring walking a smaller red ring like a dog)) is gone after I set up my iphone 13... u_u
I was told achievements came back after a while but it's been gone since November...
They should have been back to work a long time ago .
Guaranteed they lose people over this. No reason for in-person work anymore.
Seems very reasonable to me. Have not heard of any blow back aside from the usual garbage from Bloomberg saying there will be a mass exodus from Apple due to this new policy. Really funny reading some of the comments from the disgruntled workers 
tell me you've never had a partner without telling me you've never had a partner. just because you have no friends outside of work, it doesn't mean everyone is that much of a lost cause.
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This may come as a surprise to some.
When I was working at the office cubicle farm, people had the patience to wait for me coming back to my seat to communicate, whether I was out for lunch, coffee break, or even washroom.
Now with work from home, people will try to IM, text, and call while I am in the washroom and told them be right back beforehand.
Then there are those people scheduling meeting on top of other meetings during regular lunch hours.
Too many days in the work week, I got under 5 minutes to chow. Am I back in basic training?
Who still thinks work from home is relaxing and lazy?
Exactly. I worked in offices of various companies for years, and being physically present never prevented the slackers from slacking.
There are definitely business types that benefit from in-person work (for example, hardware engineering/design where being in the same room can save time), but lazy people will find a way to avoid work no matter the setting.
learn to set boundaries? this is a you problem.This may come as a surprise to some.
When I was working at the office cubicle farm, people had the patience to wait for me coming back to my seat to communicate, whether I was out for lunch, coffee break, or even washroom.
Now with work from home, people will try to IM, text, and call while I am in the washroom and told them be right back beforehand.
Then there are those people scheduling meeting on top of other meetings during regular lunch hours.
Too many days in the work week, I got under 5 minutes to chow. Am I back in basic training?
Who still thinks work from home is relaxing and lazy?
This doesn't surprise me at all. After, look what state Apple Park is in. I can't go in to detail or I'll go back in to "topic jail again".
To be honest, I've been more productive, more hardworking since the remote working started. When I was in the office I'd often go on smoke breaks with my coworkers or someone would just come and talk to me. There are way less distractions at home + coffee machine and bathrooms are closer and often I don't have any lunch breaks at home.
Try this, and I am being serious.This may come as a surprise to some.
When I was working at the office cubicle farm, people had the patience to wait for me coming back to my seat to communicate, whether I was out for lunch, coffee break, or even washroom.
Now with work from home, people will try to IM, text, and call while I am in the washroom and told them be right back beforehand.
Then there are those people scheduling meeting on top of other meetings during regular lunch hours.
Too many days in the work week, I got under 5 minutes to chow. Am I back in basic training?
Who still thinks work from home is relaxing and lazy?
Don't reply or don't answer.
Don't say anything. If they ask, tell them you care enough to give them your full attention but to do that it needs to be at a time that you won't be distracted. Pick a preferred method for them to contact you, preferably an email that you don't have attached to your phone. Ignore all requests that don't go through that channel. Then, once or twice a day set a fixed amount of time to respond. Don't reply twice to someone in one session. If they reply back right away wait until the next time you check your email. Don't go spend more than your allotted time replying, and if you don't finish make them first the next time. Any thread with more than five messages needs to be scheduled.
When you reply answer every question as best you can. If you can't answer a question establish a path for them either another contact, a follow-up, or let them know the points you can help with. If you speak, establish the point of the conversation upfront and give them your full attention. Ask if they have anything else if it can't be completed in the scheduled time make a follow plan. Ask them over and over until they end the conversation. Document it and use that note to begin the next interaction. They will learn, eventually, that your time is a well-deserved privilege. If you feel compelled to explain yourself tell them you are documenting your productivity. Make sure it's clear that you are documenting everything. Sometimes meetings can not be rescheduled, and you have to decide if it's something you want to be involved in. If you can't, then let them know you can't attend the meeting. If you say you will go then make sure you are there.
Figure out when you are most productive with your own work and schedule that time for you. Refer to it as a productivity meeting and don't justify it or move it. That's your time. For example, I am most productive from 11 AM to 2 PM. That's my time to do work. I reply to emails between 3 and 4 PM. Work ends at 4 PM. The rest of the time I schedule additional communications and secondary work. The exception to this is Wednesday, which I schedule entirely for myself. I might reply to emails, but I delay sending them until the scheduled time on Thursday.
I have asked people if they feel I am approachable. No one has ever said no. I have asked if I pull my weight or complete what I commit to. No one has ever said no. I want every person I interact with to know that I love my work and I will not let the temptation to only focus on the fun or novel stuff distract me from being my best. Sometimes I have to turn down activities I really want to do, but in the end, I am better for it. I am not just more productive since we all went remote I get more handwritten thank you notes and tokens of appreciation.
Of course, this needs to be adapted to meet your personal needs. You might need to check to email twice a day or every other day. You might need to prepare alternate plans for emergencies. Whatever you need make sure you respect everyone, you and your coworkers, by committing to it. Make it easy on them so they know how to get the most out of you.
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There comes a point in time where this isn’t about Covid anymore and it becomes about the convenience of just working from home. While I’m sure its convenient, Apple didn’t spend hundreds of millions on Apple Park only for it to sit empty. If you don’t like going back to work in the office, then seek employment elsewhere that will allow you to work from home forever.
One thing is for certain and that is that you are replaceable with someone who is more than willing to walk into Apple Park each day to perform the job from the office that you no longer want to work from.
One thing is for certain and that is that you are replaceable with someone who is more than willing to walk into Apple Park each day to perform the job from the office that you no longer want to work from.
The cost of Apple Park is irrelevant. It was a bad investment. Tim needs to cut his losses. Just like Apple wasted a lot of money on facial recognition right before the world moved to face masks they spent billions on an office right before everyone moved to WFH.
You win some, and you lose some.
The idea that people will leave always backfires because the ones willing to leave first are the top employees.
Reading some of the comments here and the thing that strikes me more than anything else is the incredible lack of empathy on show.
From people arguing in both directions.
This is a really complex situation. Covid has been a really horrendous experience for everyone, but some people are still in great danger from it.
And honestly, some people have reasons why working from home makes them more productive or makes their lives much easier. So I can see why for some people returning to the office would be very difficult.
But, apple has always been open about it being a temporary thing. Apple has always been focused around high security, office based working.
I suppose it seems like perhaps there could be more flexibility.
And then there’s the ongoing impact of covid. There are a few airlines here in the UK that a few weeks ago removed mask mandates for their staff. Since, they’ve been cancelling loads of flights every day because so many staff are off sick.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Apple has to readjust this policy when covid spreads around the office and a sizeable portion of the workforce is off sick. Then they’ll really see a fall in productivity.
From people arguing in both directions.
This is a really complex situation. Covid has been a really horrendous experience for everyone, but some people are still in great danger from it.
And honestly, some people have reasons why working from home makes them more productive or makes their lives much easier. So I can see why for some people returning to the office would be very difficult.
But, apple has always been open about it being a temporary thing. Apple has always been focused around high security, office based working.
I suppose it seems like perhaps there could be more flexibility.
And then there’s the ongoing impact of covid. There are a few airlines here in the UK that a few weeks ago removed mask mandates for their staff. Since, they’ve been cancelling loads of flights every day because so many staff are off sick.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Apple has to readjust this policy when covid spreads around the office and a sizeable portion of the workforce is off sick. Then they’ll really see a fall in productivity.
I don't get people that want to WFH forever and say that they can do everything they can do in the office over zoom. I'm like, ok, don't go to the bar or restaurants with friends in person and just do those over zoom too, you were doing that fine during the last couple years.
WFH started because of COVID. That's not the primary reason it should continue.
While I agree in principle, we also need to ask whether working in the office 5 days a week is actually the most efficient business practice. We've now had 2 years of this near-global workplace "experiment" and should have some good data on productivity.
My take is:
(1) It depends on your role - some roles are most efficiently conducted with on-site interaction. Others may be no less efficient when performed remotely (e.g. writing documentation, individual research)
(2) It depends on your personality and preferences - individuals may work better in a physical team, or when given focused isolation.
(3) Considerations for reducing environmental impact. Fewer commuters, less traffic (& pollution, carbon footprint), smaller corporate offices (= savings). This can we weighed against the reduction in trade for businesses that have a dependency on week-day workers who travel to their office locations.
(4) Employee satisfaction. The genie is out of the bottle now. Workers who find home-working less stressful, more enjoyable and who are no less productive will be reluctant to go back to offices for no good reason (i.e. simply to be "present")
For many industries, some kind of hybrid work is likely to become the norm. Even before the pandemic it was pretty common for me to have "work from home" days when there wasn't a need for face to face meetings with colleagues or customers.