Apple to summon staff back to the office in September
- Reference: 1622743651
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/03/apple_workers_office/
- Source link:
The iGiant CEO said the decision to pick specific in-office days would “help us optimize our time for in-person collaboration,” although noted selected teams will have to attend in-person for a larger proportion of the week.
As a peace offering, employees will be given two weeks a year to work remotely to “be closer to family and loved ones, find a change of scenery, manage unexpected travel, or a different reason of all your own,” Cook said in the memo, which was [1]obtained by The Verge.
[2]
Although various organisations have opted to keep remote working for the indefinite future, Cook argued purely online interactions are a poor substitute for in-person meetings.
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“For all that we’ve been able to achieve while many of us have been separated, the truth is that there has been something essential missing from this past year: each other,” he wrote to staff. “Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us, to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate.”
Silicon Valley's mixed response
Apple cited its growing confidence in the coronavirus vaccine rollout, as well as declining COVID-19 cases in the United States, as factors behind the move.
According to [5]the most recent CDC data, 41 per cent of the US population has been fully vaccinated, with 51.8 per cent having at least one dose. Excluding those under the age of 18, that number rises to 63 per cent of adults with at least one dose.
President Biden has set a goal to [6]give 70 per cent of the US adult population at least one dose by the July 4 Independence Day holiday.
[7]Hybrid working? Buckle in, there's no turning back as survey takers insist: You can't make us go back
[8]Surprise! Developers' days ruined by interruptions and meetings, GitHub finds
[9]Help wanted, work from anywhere ... except if you're located in Colorado
[10]Just one in 5 Googlers plan to swerve the office permanently after COVID-19
A year ago The Reg [11]predicted corporations would reverse the work-from-home trend by mid-2022: in reality, Apple and others are bringing back the commute and in-office working this fall.
Last month, Google [12]said it would allow 20 per cent of its employees to work remotely; 80 per cent will be on site for at least a few days a week or in new office locations. It previously aimed for [13]a staggered return to the office by September. Facebook expects at least half of its workforce to telecommute for the next five to ten years, while Twitter has said it [14]will allow remote working “forever.”
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In San Francisco, office real estate prices and activity [16]has plummeted . With office real estate a major cost, and housing notoriously expensive, a switch to remote working is attractive to both employers and employees.
It’s proven less favorable to those living in once-affordable towns like [17]Boise, Idaho and [18]Bozeman, Montana , where the SF Bay Area's Patagonia-clad refugees have caused real estate prices to soar. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/2/22465846/apple-employees-return-office-three-days-week-september
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YLlQ-ttEXeca3-wcQCuE7wAAAFM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YLlQ-ttEXeca3-wcQCuE7wAAAFM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YLlQ-ttEXeca3-wcQCuE7wAAAFM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
[6] https://www.npr.org/2021/06/02/1002557023/bidens-incentive-to-get-americans-vaccinated-by-july-4th-beer-and-sports-tickets
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/03/hybrid_working_survey/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/25/developers_interruptions_github/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/21/colorado_employment_hiring/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/06/google_retuen_to_office/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/19/future_history_of_work_from_home/
[12] https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/05/google-relaxes-remote-work-plan-will-let-20percent-of-employees-telecommute.html
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/14/google_work_from_home/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/13/twitter_employees_homework/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YLlQ-ttEXeca3-wcQCuE7wAAAFM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/14/san-francisco-office-leases-tech-industry-covid
[17] https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/growing-idaho/treasure-valley-housing-prices-increase-while-wages-remain-stagnant/277-92f9d8e9-e8b8-4dd5-9f57-f4f43946c70b
[18] https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/montana-housing-market-booming-but-whos-moving-here
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Missing the social aspects
Yes, the coughs, colds, arguments over the office temperature, the second rate food at the wrong time etc. Once the lock down is over instead of standing on an overpriced train or sitting burning petrol in a pointless traffic jam try your local sports clubs, pub, getting a dog and walking it. Most IT offices are stuffed to the gills with pasty faced boys with terrible dress sense, smelly feet and zero social skills, if you are very lucky there is a pretty gal on reception but generally that's not the case either. Freed from the need to get into the London or Cambridge office I can even choose somewhere nice and affordable to live.
With working from home it is very dependent on the job you are doing.
My current contract has me working with people in India, Texas, San Francisco, and Tokyo, there are some people in the uk but only about 3 or 4. So in that respect it doesn’t make any difference where I am as I would never meet these people in person regardless.
On the other hand if I was installing kit or rebuilding a site in the uk then I would have to be onsite for that work.
I can see most companies going for a hybrid model long term but it depends on the culture. And also if you have managers that believe anyone not visible must be slacking off then they won’t help the situation.
Slacking off
So pay people according to the value they deliver. And that includes managers, if your department doesnt deliver you don't get paid. It's results, output that matters and not whether I did it in an airless inside office or at 9pm after spending the day surfing
Interesting point about international teams
I always found it annoying to be told I had to be in the Cambridge office because I had to work with the team.... Most of whom were in Romania or Bangalore
Re: Interesting point about international teams
Funny enough, it works both ways; there's little point for many of us in Bucharest, Romania to come to an office, when your job means you work with the people in Cambridge and Bangalore... or even in a little Romanian village in the middle of nowhere.
If I worked for them
My resignation would be in. We have proved we can work without sitting for hours polluting the planet, killing ourselves inhaling vehicle fumes, missing out on daylight (many companies have inside offices with no natural light at all) catching coughs,, infections and other nasties from colleagues and putting up with crap food and drinks. I am not going back to that even if it means dropping from the it rat race entirely and becoming a farm labourer. We dont need to put up with the crap for a while but dinosaur who can't think better than a Victorian slave driver
Re: If I worked for them
I'm with you.
I only work to top up money for nice holidays and stuff. I'm already over the line well before retirement age. If I'm required to start commuting again, I think I'll just call it a day and do something I'm really interested in.
Bonkers approach?
Not the three day bit. That’s Apple’s choice and I’d grudgingly accept that if my employer made the same demand. But three days of a full house when fewer people, a bit more spread out, everyday, would probably be healthier? This disease isn’t going away and nor will the reasons to be a little bit cautious and manage the risks it presents.
Alternate uses for a large shiny glass building
You don't spend $5bn on a shiny glass Ive-designed HQ and leave it empty
Maybe Amazon could use it for a warehouse? Or Elon could manufacture hi-tech goldfish bowls -- or something we all need at least two or three of -- there?
I really can't decide where the remote working situation will end up. I love working from home for the extra time it gives me, the money I save and not having to go into London every day. I'm definitely starting to miss the social aspects though and I do worry about how we'll train up new employees or kick off new projects long term. I suspect most companies will end up with a mixture so Apple's policy is probably reasonable. I do wonder how many companies that ditched lots (or even all) of their office space will row back on it after a year or two.