Claims of Apple Putting New Hires to Work on 'Fake' Projects Questioned, Found Unlikely

[MacRumors]

Just over a year ago, a LinkedIn Q&A session with Inside Apple author Adam Lashinsky generated some attention for an exchange with a former Apple employee in the audience who reported that new Apple hires are sometimes placed on "fake" projects during a probationary period. The audience member's comment was sparked by Lashinsky's discussion of employees being hired into "dummy positions" where they do not know what they will be working on until they start at the company.

Ars Technica has now followed up on those claims of new hires being placed on fake projects and found that the claim is unlikely to be true.

I spoke to Apple employees from various areas of the company at differing levels, some who are still at Apple and others who have moved on, but all expressed the same sentiment. No one reported any direct experience of being put on a fake project at Apple, and no one knew a friend or colleague at the company who had. A single former employee acknowledged having heard about fake projects--but only from a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend, and the employee was quick to acknowledge that the rumor should be treated with a skeptical eye.

Sources noted that virtually all work at Apple is heavily covered by nondisclosure agreements, meaning that there is little need to resort to putting employees on fake projects as tests of their loyalty.

The report also describes how Apple works to track down suspected sources of leaks, occasionally putting an entire room on lockdown with security personnel working quickly to download data from computers and other devices. Such incidents are said to be rare, but they do leave lasting impressions on employees.

Article Link: Claims of Apple Putting New Hires to Work on 'Fake' Projects Questioned, Found Unlikely

[iphone495]

I didn't think so. That would be waste of Apple resources. And COOK wouldn't let that happen.

[Tankmaze]

they must be working on a fake of a fake project, so they don't realize they are fake. fakeception. its friday night here, so cheers

[Four oF NINE]

Not only that, projects are heavily compartmentalized.. different teams are seldom working on overarching themes

[Compile 'em all]

Seems like a waste of time and resources.

[sbrhwkp3]

If I were the employee, I'd be pissed that I did all that work to never see a product hit the market. This would be a terrible policy, and there's no way apple does it.

[Dr McKay]

Originally Posted by sbrhwkp3

If I were the employee, I'd be pissed that I did all that work to never see a product hit the market. This would be a terrible policy, and there's no way apple does it.

Lol, imagine pouring your heart and soul into a project to make it truly amazing, staying up late, working early thinking that this project is your chance to shine and show your mark and then find out you were working on a dud.

[lighthouse_man]

So you're telling us that Apple is actually working on fully functional robot with human like AI?

[ctdonath]

Actually, rather notably runs multiple competing projects, in the end selecting the best of the bunch and dropping the rest. This could be construed as "fake projects".

I'd be pissed that I did all that work to never see a product hit the market.

Might be more the norm than the exception. is looking for the very best, so it's worth a policy of running many high-cost projects and killing most of them.

[Mousse]

Welcome to the Peoples Republic of Apple. Here's yer tinfoil pyramid hat. I've heard a lot of conspiracy theories before, but this one makes all of those seem plausible.

Even the most sensible (leak prevention) part makes no sense. Why the heck would they hire someone whom they suspect would leak information?

[JaySoul]

Siri was a fake project that got rubber-stamped by accident.

[AppleScruff1]

Originally Posted by JaySoul

Siri was a fake project that got rubber-stamped by accident.

Along with Apple maps.

[Small White Car]

Originally Posted by ctdonath

Actually, rather notably runs multiple competing projects, in the end selecting the best of the bunch and dropping the rest. This could be construed as "fake projects"

But that's clearly not what the articles last year talking about this meant. They were bogus rumors based on misunderstandings (even if something like competing projects does take place).

[whooleytoo]

Lots of Apple projects in the past have been worked on for months (in extreme cases, years) and then canned; which might be partly what fed this rumour. Someone worked on a project that never lead to any product and then speculated if the project was ever genuine.

[notjustjay]

Originally Posted by Small White Car

But that's clearly not what the articles last year talking about this meant. They were bogus rumors based on misunderstandings (even if something like competing projects does take place).

Well, knowing that misunderstandings and rumors often stem from some core element of truth, that's probably the closest explanation.

Apple likely has multiple projects in the pipeline, many of which are experimental. Curved glass iWatch? Apple Television? Smaller iPhone? Larger iPhone? Touchscreen Macs? New Mac Pros? Apple gaming console? I bet all of those rumors are true in the sense that somebody, somewhere, was working on them. Which ones of those will ever become shipping products... that's another story.

[iphone3gss]

Sources noted that virtually all work at Apple is heavily covered by nondisclosure agreements,

The NDAs could cover not discussing the fake projects...

[BornAgainApple]

I'd clean the restrooms for a chance to work behind the walls of 1 Cupertino Loop

[Big-TDI-Guy]

Room on lockdown, I question if that is even legal? "Sorry hun, I can't leave work until security lets us out of the room." ?

[nwcs]

Originally Posted by Big-TDI-Guy

Room on lockdown, I question if that is even legal? "Sorry hun, I can't leave work until security lets us out of the room." ?

Why not legal? They can set up video cameras and record everything you do. And if you don't think businesses do that (and monitor all internet traffic) then you'd be mistaken. It's a condition of employment you don't see buried in the docs you sign when you become an employee.

[Radio]

How can u make this a story? Lol

[whooleytoo]

Originally Posted by Big-TDI-Guy

Room on lockdown, I question if that is even legal? "Sorry hun, I can't leave work until security lets us out of the room." ?

Pretty questionable, I'd have thought. Can security effectively detain people without their consent, particularly when there is (as yet) no clear evidence of a crime?

I guess they could always threaten anyone who leaves with being fired for refusing to submit to a security check.

[kalsta]

Originally Posted by BornAgainApple

I'd clean the restrooms for a chance to work behind the walls of 1 Cupertino Loop

Cleaning the 1 Cupertino Loo huh? At least you'll know there's nothing fake about those jobs.

[Renzatic]

Originally Posted by nwcs

It's a condition of employment you don't see buried in the docs you sign when you become an employee.

"Line up, people! We're harvesting your testicles and having them frozen for the Apple Inc. Human Posterity Project. The contracts you signed allows us to do this, so you might as well get it over with now relatively pain free, rather than having us sue the hell out of you for millions of dollars and still end up taking your testicles later".

"...okay".

[bdkennedy1]

Meanwhile, China leaks out whatever it wants to.

[SmileyBlast!]

Maybe the engineers work on real jobs but PR people say they work on Fake Projects.