Apple scraps 3-day return to office amid COVID-19 cases
- Reference: 1652878805
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/05/18/apple_return_to_office/
- Source link:
Staff at the world's most valuable company were due to up their time in the office from next week, May 23, with Mondays, Tuesday, and Thursdays set as the fixed days each week.
Yet due to the pandemic, Apple confirmed to its workforce that it is delaying the edict for the "time being" with no new date cited, according to [1]a memo seen by Bloomberg .
[2]
In addition, employees must again wear masks in common areas – at least in Silicon Valley offices – and US retail workers in 100 stores must do the same, a requirement that was dropped in March when the spread of COVID-19 slowed.
[3]
[4]
Staff will still be expected in two days a week, a policy that was introduced by the company in April.
Apple's return to the office [5]hasn't gone down well with all employees , and a group that named itself Apple Together published an [6]open letter weeks ago decrying the choice.
[7]
"You have characterized the decision for the Hybrid Working Pilot as being about combining the 'need to commune in-person' and the value of flexible work. But in reality, it does not recognize flexible work and is only driven by fear. Fear of the future of work, fear of workers' autonomy, and fear of losing control," the letter states.
Apple Together is comprised of 250 employees out of a 165,000-strong workforce. The Reg believes more than 8,000 Apple staff are members of the company's remote advocacy channel on Slack.
The group criticized Apple, saying it "keeps" employees in "siloed Slack workspaces" so that software engineers don't "accidentally talk" to Apple Care staff, and so on. It also highlighted the time suck that is commuting.
[8]
A former Apple principal software engineer, Cher Scarlett, told us that Apple makes products to help customers work remotely and it seems "hypocritical to not put those products to work for their [own] workers."
[9]US cops kick back against facial recognition bans
[10]Apple to replace future iPhone Lightning port with USB-C next year, this guy claims
[11]LIDAR in iPhones is not about better photos – it's about the future of low-cost augmented reality
[12]Asahi Linux project shows progress in graphics drivers on Apple's M1
Apple told The Register it had no comment at this time.
In late April, when Apple [13]outlined its Q2 financial results , CEO Tim Cook said he was "excited to be welcoming employees back to the office in the US and Europe."
"These times remind us that we cannot know what the future may hold. But they remind us, too, that technology infused with humanity makes a real difference in the world. And that's where our focus has remained, on driving the innovations that can enrich people's lives," he added.
It is now more than two years since many governments across the world imposed lockdowns on citizens to slow the spread of the virus, forcing them to work, learn, and play indoors. Apple isn't alone in trying to find the right solution, with other technology companies also setting dates for staff to return to the office only for them to be scrapped, [14]Amazon and [15]Microsoft among them.
Just this week, [16]Google opened the doors of its Bay View campus but judging by the experience of other companies, not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar no matter what incentives are on offer. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-17/apple-delays-plan-to-have-workers-in-office-three-days-a-week?srnd=technology-vp
[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=2YoUYKuwgnglN6UvbRhb2aQAAAIA&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=44YoUYKuwgnglN6UvbRhb2aQAAAIA&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=33YoUYKuwgnglN6UvbRhb2aQAAAIA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/03/apple_return_to_the_office/
[6] https://appletogether.org/hotnews/thoughts-on-office-bound-work
[7] 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=44YoUYKuwgnglN6UvbRhb2aQAAAIA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] 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=33YoUYKuwgnglN6UvbRhb2aQAAAIA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/16/in_brief_ai/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/12/apple_lightning_usbc/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/11/ipone_lidar_future_of_ar/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/10/apple_m1_mesa/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/29/apple_silicon_shortages_and_c19/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/12/amazon_ceo_tells_corporate_workforce/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/15/microsoft_open_office/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/17/googles_bay_view_campus/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: "not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar"
Business' with large physical footprints, EG Apple's giant presence in California, means they've got copious amounts of actual seats going unused because their workforce is mostly WFH. You can almost hear their accountants gnashing & grinding their teeth at how much it's costing the company for all their vaunted infrastructure that's doing SFA as a result.
It's not _that_ difficult to see why they're so eager to get butts back in the office to improve the headcount, it would mean they can start using their resources as intended rather than having said resources (the physical property) sitting there twiddling it's proverbial thumbs idle.
Re: "not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar"
" why they're so eager to get butts back in the office to improve the headcount, it would mean they can start using their resources as intended rather than having said resources (the physical property) sitting there twiddling it's proverbial thumbs idle."
That's a sunk cost fallacy, though. Whatever they've spent on the building has been spent. They're not spending less by filling it (in fact they will spend more on electricity etc). And they won't make any more income by filling it if everyone works as efficiently from home*. It's primarily an ego thing - look at the nice new building we have!!!
*Assumption, by the way, based simply on my own experience plus a sample of Register comments. It's also possible that all individuals are individually more productive WFH than at the office, but the overall effect is worse for the company, if individuals are not coordinating their work with each other and general corporate strategy.
Re: "not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar"
"That's a sunk cost fallacy, though."
The accountants should know that. There may be a bit of a problem explaining to shareholders that they've spend all this money on a white elephant office.
Re: "not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar"
I can't imagine that Apple or Google would design those headquarters now. Sure, they need a shiny castle to impress big investors, government officials etc. The fact they built these very large and expensive buildings is a mistake in hindsight (but maybe not at the time).
The problem they have is that they have these shiny castles, but they can't use them to show off if they look deserted (not to mention the ego problem of the C-levels needing to lord it over the troops).
It's a shame they don't sub-let bits to other companies, I hear the infrastructure is very good.
Re: "not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar"
[1]The Office Is a Beautiful Place When Everyone Else Works from Home
[1] https://books.google.com/books?id=dXtIEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Re: "not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar"
Sounds like a case of confirmation bias. I know several companies who are working hell for leather doing in-person stuff to catch up on the stuff that they couldn't do for the last two years.
Remote working works better for some people and situations than others.
Re: "not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar"
Your post sounds like a case of confirmation bias to me.
I work for a company with 70k employees globally, in many places the offices are open but few are using them. My own team has said, from management down, that we will not be returning to the office. Not for 5 days a week, not even for 2 or 3 days a week. I have never even seen the office since I changed job during the pandemic.
Some people want to be in an office - that's fine, you do you. But for some of us WFH is better for our work-life balance. Plus I never have to listen to inane conversations from the other people in the room while I'm trying to write code.
Re: "not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar"
We actually moved offices during the pandemic (which doubles my commute time) and instigated a hot-desk system throughout the new building with a fully flexible working arrangement - work from home, work from the office, work on the beach - it's up to you - as long as you work.
Hot-desks for developers (who typically have several computers, many monitors, and other custom hardware) are about as useful as chocolate fireguards. Add to that the fact that the monitors available on each desk are of the small, useless variety, and it's been an easy decision for a lot of our team to just ignore the office.
I am never going back to the office. Ever.
What a difference a day makes
I can see 24 hours less stopping Covid in its tracks.
I hate the office
Full of annoying people.
In the anus of our county (we moved a few years ago).
And it costs £15 a day to comute in.
I do like WFH
Show me someone who is dead-set on getting people back to the office
And I'll show you someone who is a commercial landlord, shareholder in privatised "public" transport, or in a city-centre sandwich chain.
Nobody is preventing people who want to work in an office from doing so, but there definitely seems to be a mindset of forcing those of us who do not, to do so, for no operational purpose.
As always, cui bono?
"not everyone is yet ready to return to the corporate altar"
No kidding.
The one good thing about COVID is that it has amply demonstrated that going to the office is not a requirement to being productive.
Oh sure, for the insecure managers who like counting heads, yes, having all your minions on hand must be very satisfying indeed, but unfortunately, your minions have worked off-site for almost two years and productivity has not gone down.
You're going to have to live with that fact now.