Apple to compel workers to spend '3 days a week' in the office
- Reference: 1660674606
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/08/16/apple_office_mandate/
- Source link:
According to an internal memo, CEO Tim Cook said being in the same room as a colleague was "essential" to Apple's culture.
In the missive sent on Monday, Steve Job's replacement said staff near HQ and surrounding offices should make sure they were at basecamp on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Team managers get to pick the third day when employees are expected in the office, according to the memo reported in [1]the Financial Times .
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Cook said: "We are excited to move forward with the pilot and believe that this revised framework will enhance our ability to work flexibly while preserving the in-person collaboration that is so essential to our culture."
[3]
[4]
He also admitted the company had "a lot to learn" and was "committed to listening, adapting and growing together in the weeks and months ahead," hinting that the mandate may be adjusted.
Some employees might be forgiven for questioning the global tech and media behemoth's listening powers.
[5]
In an open letter published in May, a group calling itself [6]Apple Together said Apple's work-from-home (WFH) policy was motivated by fear.
"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," the letter says. "But in reality, it does not recognize flexible work and is only driven by fear. Fear of the future of work, fear of worker autonomy, fear of losing control."
In March, Cook outlined a plan to have Apple employees who had been working from home return to the office following a COVID-19-enforced WFH period. This backfired somewhat when Apple's insistance on a return to office like caused its director of machine learning Ian Goodfellow to [7]resign and jump ship to Google.
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Apple staff are not the only ones doubting the efficacy of mandatory back-to-office plans.
[9]Back-to-office mandates won't work, says Salesforce's Benioff
[10]Apple's return-to-office plan savaged by staff
[11]Microsoft's macOS Tamper Protection hits general availability
[12]Warning: Apple 'could very easily' cripple Jamf
In June, [13]Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told a company conference in New York that "office mandates are never going to work," according to Yahoo ! Finance.
Still, Cook has on his side Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon – who has taken several opportunities to [14]insist that his staff get back to the office full time – and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who insisted the temptation of [15]coffee and cheese was too much for effective home working.
Apple declined to comment. ®
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[1] https://www.ft.com/content/b8080070-4c41-4193-8382-4f5c8e9c5097
[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=2YvwTg7Gzo0k2w6H68s1MYwAAAIU&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=44YvwTg7Gzo0k2w6H68s1MYwAAAIU&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=33YvwTg7Gzo0k2w6H68s1MYwAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] 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=44YvwTg7Gzo0k2w6H68s1MYwAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/03/apple_return_to_the_office/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/22/ai_in_brief/
[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=33YvwTg7Gzo0k2w6H68s1MYwAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/24/back_to_office_benioff/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/03/apple_return_to_the_office/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/16/macos_tamper_protection/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/15/apple_jamf_watchdog/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/24/back_to_office_benioff/
[14] https://fortune.com/2022/03/11/goldman-sachs-return-to-work-employees-david-solomon/
[15] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/14/boris-johnson-urges-more-people-to-return-to-office-working
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who insisted...
He is just leading the drive to work from stately home for a better not work - life balance.
He should be applauded
Re: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who insisted...
... it's not possible to have an affair if you're working from home
Re: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who insisted...
>... it's not possible to have an affair if you're working from home
I suggest you research former US president Bill Clinton...
Re: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who insisted...
That's the Boris Johnson who's currently on holiday in Greece, 2 weeks after his last holiday in Slovenia, who said that he can be contacted by phone if needed when photographed buying wine in a supermarket?
Haven't heard any of the CEOs pushing the back to the office line explain yet how hours spent commuting every day make you more productive, as opposed to more tired and irritable.
Re: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who insisted...
Bozo spotted buying wine? Clear evidence that he's planning a work meeting
IPad, MacBook and iPhone
Shit for remote workers - says Apple.
No authority figure likes the masterless man, and the masterless woman is at least as frightening. Apple bosses want to be able to give their peasants a hard stare now and then. Far too many bosses and officials yearn to live in a feudal society.
I have known managers who rely on physical intimidation. Including throwing chairs.
"DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS!"
The artisan weaver, working from home, was only undone when there was technology to replicate his skill - perhaps not matching it in quality but at a fraction of the cost.
Given the present state of GitHub Copilot ("your AI pair programmer" which I carelessly misread as "your au pair programmer") I suspect Apple may have jumped the gun.
That's fine.
Every employee this will actually affect now has "Apple" on their resume, and will be able to find a MUCH better job that isn't forcing them back into an office.
Bold move when talented and qualified people have plenty of options that don't including being at the office.
Luckily for Apple the other broadly-similar employers such as Google, Meta, etc, are either reducing or completely freezing hiring in the short term.
I'm full remote these days, and I ideally wouldn't ever go back. It's doing wonders for my child time — both being with one and acting like one.
The vast corporation my son works for imposed the same policy a couple of months ago and so many of the staff resigned that week, that the policy was rolled back hurriedly.
He works in the IT Dept and was told in advance that "don't worry, it doesn't apply to us".
Man, I wish I only had to show up three days a week. I always get, "no, we need you here in case you have to troubleshoot something in person." I live three miles away!
3 days a week is not so bad. Two days remote is really enough for most. If they want 100%remote, work elsewhere but not Tesla either. Oh you say Meta?. Nothing to say. Sheryl has had enough, it says it all!.
Nah, its about management protecting their own jobs. If every has been doing the job without hands on management, and continues to do so without hands-on management, that is a whole whack of managers out of work. Count on the bean counters and shoulder-hoverers to avoid that like the plague...
Steve Job's [sic] replacement said […]
Tim Cook is certainly Steve Jobs’ successor. It could be debated whether he has been a replacement for Jobs — cf. the strength of their respective reality distortion fields.
Re: Steve Job's [sic] replacement said […]
The catastrophic drop in Apple sales, profits and market cap since Cook took over would certainly suggest so.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who insisted...
... the concept of work had once been explained to him, but he remained unable to comprehend its purpose.