Apple's Director of Machine Learning Resigns Due to Return to Office Work

[xxray]

Oh no. Another entitled person didn’t get their way. No loss.


So artificially make housing prices higher where people expect Bay Area paychecks for living in Ohio?

This madness will stop at some point especially with recession looming. Looking forward to these people crying they can no longer take 2 hour make during the day while they “work”

You must be a business owner or manager. Otherwise, how are you this convinced to be against your own interests?

How do you get this bitter over people wanting to have better lives that you just start screaming “entitlement” and that they’re “crying” because other people make decisions that better their lives? If they’re able to be just as productive or more productive at home, what’s the issue?

Comments like these make me think you have no conversations with people in real life. I can’t see someone getting this angry if they’ve actually discussed the topic of WFH with friends and family unless they’re all just as pissed about it as you for god knows why.

 

[beanbaguk]

My last company lost its entire development team as a result of a “return to office” policy.

Bosses need to move on. My job is 100% remote. Heck, it’s in a completely different country!

I do visit my colleagues a couple of times per year, but Google Meets is perfectly adequate.

I wouldn’t go back to a full office job. I used to commute 4-5 hours per day, over 1000km per week. I’d never see my son as he was asleep when I left, and also when I got home; And I used to spend easily €10k per year in commuting costs. Never again.

 

[Martinpa]

I’m of two minds on this…

On one hand macOS Monterey and iOS 16 were, to me, the most lackluster updates in a while, and flagship features only shipped months down the line. How much of it was caused by the shift to a remote paradigm is hard to tell, and even if it is caused by it, is it inherent or just that Apple’s culture wasn’t adapted to make it work?

Alternatively, I don’t think that office work is best suited for everyone. Same as remote work is not best suited for everyone.

I think it would probably be more sensible if it wasn’t a sweeping policy for everyone and the remote work situation was evaluated, at least, on a department basis.

 

[genovelle]

Apparently prioritising your family and your wellbeing is childish while imposing unnecessary stress and lowering your employees' quality of life is reasonable and mature

It’s a job that they took for very good pay that required them to work in Apple’s office. I can promise these people are going to the store, out to eat at restaurants, to events like weddings and concerts etc.

 

[jz0309]

I work at an insurance company in downtown Toronto, Canada. Our bitch of a VP made is making us all go back to work in the office. All the work I do is on a computer, and nearly all my communication is done via email or MS Teams. There's ZERO point in going back to work. Anyone who thinks you need to come in, is doing this out of malice. I can't stand having to wake up early just to WASTE 2 effing hours a day just to do the same job at location B instead of A.

Did it ever occur to you that not every job is like yours?
Think of a team developing and troubleshooting a HW product? Yea, try doing that via Teams…

 

[cdarlington1]

A year and a half working away from home because of a pandemic and everybody thinks they can dictate where they work now? GTFOH.

 

[jz0309]

I’m of two minds on this…

On one hand macOS Monterey and iOS 16 were, to me, the most lackluster updates in a while, and flagship features only shipped months down the line. How much of it was caused by the shift to a remote paradigm is hard to tell, and even if it is caused by it, is it inherent or just that Apple’s culture wasn’t adapted to make it work?

Alternatively, I don’t think that office work is best suited for everyone. Same as remote work is not best suited for everyone.

I think it would probably be more sensible if it wasn’t a sweeping policy for everyone and the remote work situation was evaluated, at least, on a department basis.

I agree, but this is the typical pendulum, going from one extreme to the other, eventually we’ll settle somewhere in the middle…

 

[beanbaguk]

Because they want you back in the office instead of taking numerous breaks? Slacking off? Running and doing errands while on the clock?

It’s easily seen. If somebody is that poor at home, they are undoubtedly poor performers in the office.

 

[criticasm]

Apple will lose top talent to competitors because of this.

The software mostly and until recently some hardware has been iffy for years now. Seems they lost their "top talent" a while ago. Or in the case of Scott Forstall they threw them away 'cause Timmy was insecure & probably jealous not being in Steve's posse. Only exception right now is the Silicon team with Johny Srouji being the tech architect equivalent of Pelé. The guy's worth 10 Tim Cooks & 20 Angela Arhrendts.

 

[npmacuser5]

Better for everyone if an employee moves on. Rather than take their grips to the office. The good news on the employee side, many more options today then ever. The workplace has and will continue to evolve. Who would have dreamed the CEO writing their own letters not that long ago.

 

[beanbaguk]

A year and a half working away from home because of a pandemic and everybody thinks they can dictate where they work now? GTFOH.

Yeah. They can. It’s called choice. He wanted to work from home. They said no, and he left.

That guy will be snapped up in seconds by an employer who will allow him to work from home.

Employers need to adapt and move with the times.

There is zero need to spend 5 days per week commuting into work, wasting hours of their time to sit at a desk in an office building when the same thing can happen to with more productivity from home.

I agree it’s good meet your colleagues from time to time, but the reality is you don’t need to do this daily.

 

[npmacuser5]

Better for everyone if an employee moves on. Rather than take their grips to the office. The good news on the employee side, many more options today then ever. The workplace has and will continue to evolve. Who would have dreamed the CEO writing their own letters not that long ago.

 

[Naraxus]

Any of these lazy freeloaders who want to have a permanent vacation and get paid handsomely for should be immediately shown the door with a foot in their backside by Apple. Get back to work like everyone else.

 

[Kylo83]

people got so lazy working at home they don't wanna go back, well if I was apple I would say goodbye and hire people that are hardworking and not lazy

 

[tonywalker23]

I know I’m in a different field, but I love my office and going to work. When I drive to work I listen to podcasts that I enjoy, and my mind transitions from home stuff to work things. And at the end of the day, the ride and podcasts free the day’s stress and I look forward to seeing my wife and children.
At work, in my little room I have my desk and books and computer and coffee maker and music playing and can think. Once in a blue moon when I can’t sleep I’ll go to work and work on things just to do it.
I could do most stuff at home on my laptop, but I enjoy my setup at work and the different location and the drive there. I can’t be that much of a rarity?
Plus, I can’t imagine working in an office like that one! A location that beautiful would be inspiring.

 

[viperGTS]

Wow! I can’t believe these people are really refusing to go back to work. They got so used to working from home.

Refusing to go back to work? They’ve been working the past 2 years.

Any of these lazy freeloaders who want to have a permanent vacation and get paid handsomely for should be immediately shown the door with a foot in their backside by Apple. Get back to work like everyone else.

Lol so people wanting to continue to work, just in an environment that people fine more flexible, are considered “lazy freeloaders.” I can tell this wasn’t written in good faith.

people got so lazy working at home they don't wanna go back, well if I was apple I would say goodbye and hire people that are hardworking and not lazy

If they’re doing effective work at home, why does it matter where they do it? Why are you implying that hardworkers are only in the office?

 

[ajfahey]

Good that Apple called his bluff.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

That sounds more like a fault of your company than anything else. Entire production studios are working from home in my industry, the people putting movies and tv shows together, and it's been perfectly fine. Deadlines are still hit.

I highly doubt there’s proof to back up your claim about production studios for movies/tv working from home. Literally impossible with the equipment, locations, actors, etc needed to do this. Imagine a Marvel movie being edited in some dudes MacBook ha.

 

[djphat2000]

This is the dumbest take ever.

At the professional level there is no "clock". You have a job to do, you do it and get it done. That's it. If you do three hours of workin the morning, four hours in the afternoon and finish something up for an hour at 23:30 before bed, you're being just as effective as someone who has to go to the office do it in an 8-10 hour chunk.

People who want to slack off will do so at the office too. Eventually their low output will be noticed and they'll be talked to and possibly dismissed like any other bad employee.

Some would argue the best productivity comes from collaboration. Especially when the person is right there, or very close by to bounce an idea or question off of. It's rather disconnected when you working from home unless you keep the camera and mic on all the time?

People working from home also have to deal with things at home while at work. Dogs barking on conference calls, kids running around screaming/playing/yelling. It's not a "work" environment for many. For some sure. They don't have kids, animals or other distractions. Maybe even a dedicated room in their home for an office. But, not having coworkers around is a negative. I worked from home during covid. So did many others in my department. It was horrible. Again, this isn't for everyone.

And yes, Apple built that crazy office building. Should they just abandon it? What good is it if people aren't in it? Same goes for all the other office buildings. What do we do with them?

There are jobs that work well from at home. Jobs that are not reliant on having a co-worker. Say billing, or other data entry type stuff. Jobs that don't require any interaction with others. But, if you have to collaborate. Zoom isn't cutting it. Doesn't work for Students, doesn't work for every work environment on a full time basis. How can we have people go to work at a Starbucks in a downtown area where people are working from home? Or any other restaurant, fast food place, etc.. This starts to get messy pretty quickly. We know, as the last 2 years showed us exactly how this will work out.

If people are concerned about their health in this post COVID world. It's not like we don't understand that. No one wants to get sick or worse. But, we do have to live our lives too no? Can't shelter in place forever.
If this now former Apple employee wants to resign because he does not want to go back to the office. He's free to do so. I'm sure he can find a job that will let him do that. Or maybe he can start up his own.

I'm not saying you can't do what you stated above. Nor am I saying it can't work for others. But, the majority of people out there can't do what your suggesting. And no big enough business can operate with too many people not in the office. They will have to consider downsizing. Or replacing said employee with someone who will come to the office.

 

[djphat2000]

I highly doubt there’s proof to back up your claim about production studios for movies/tv working from home. Literally impossible with the equipment, locations, actors, etc needed to do this. Imagine a Marvel movie being edited in some dudes MacBook ha.

The editing sure (why not, if they can get the job done). But, filming is certainly going to require people being around each other. Movie "sets" are just that.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I understand Apple wants everyone under the big tent to ignite the serendipity of bumping into one another and brainstorming ideas. But that was before March 2020. The pandemic has totally turned the idea of the office upside down. I worked from home starting around November 2020 to July 2021. This is a workplace that said our job was impossible to do from home, but guess what, we had to do it and it worked just as well or even better. I could sleep in a little more, discard certain morning rituals. In fact, I think it worked too well and benefitted the employer more than it did me.

Yeah, the asterisk is that we built that 5 billion dollar campus and it’s not being utilized. But that’s how life works sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some groups that will need to be on campus, specially hardware engineering and software engineers working sensitive stuff. But seriously, if you are working on parts of iOS and macOS, coding from home or anywhere then submitting your changes over a secure Internet connection should be easy.

Let’s not forget folks, Marklar which became OS X on Intel was compiled at home by an Apple employee.

Bringing up the entire Intel OS X project itself was done by a guy at home in New Jersey. That was 2006. If complex software could compiled for critical hardware 15 years ago at somebody’s home, I don’t see why not now.

There will be some unfairness to it. But again, that’s life. Either Apple chooses to be a little more flexible or suffer poaching and brain drain.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Apple, and other companies that want to attract the best people, will need to bend on this. There’s no doubt in my mind that Ian had PLENTY of offers from leading companies, at competitive salaries. He made the right call.

 

[Boris Bronson]

You're not a marriage counselor to work from home. You work at a company that builds products, some are life-changing products, products that require maximum focus, productivity, discipline, quality check, again and again. At-home productivity will never equal at-work productivity. At-home discipline will never equal at-school discipline.

Just like you'd never be comfortable with a home-schooled heart surgeon; or get on a rocket built by engineers who worked from home.

Anyway, that said, good riddance to him. There are no irreplaceable people.

1970 called and asked for its opinion back.

 

[ajfahey]

Refusing to go back to work? They’ve been working the past 2 years.


Lol so people wanting to continue to work, just in an environment that people fine more flexible, are considered “lazy freeloaders.” I can tell this wasn’t written in good faith.

If they’re doing effective work at home, why does it matter where they do it? Why are you implying that hardworkers are only in the office?

It’s not up to you to decide whether he could work effectively from home. It’s a compact between him and his employer that is what matters. You‘re in no position to assess his relative performance at home versus at the office. Even if an employer is wrong it is their prerogative to be wrong.

 

[Bytor65]

IMO, he's a privileged whiner, complaining about actually having to show up a work a couple of days/week.

The vast majority of workers have absolutely ZERO flexibility, and have to be at work 5+ days/week, every week.