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JM

macrumors 601
Nov 23, 2014
4,082
6,373
I have 9 employees. We are down to work from home 1 day a week if you want. 2 of those employees do it religiously and if there is a tiny possible need to work from home, say they have to drop their kid off at summer camp at 9am or pick them up at 3pm...they ask to work at home those days. Before VID they never asked to do this stuff, just came in late or left early.

These 2 are the least productive and became even more so during the VID.
Sounds like they are distracted and would benefit from in-person. And the culture at your office seems to benefit from the (dare I say it) synergy of in person.
 

kjvmartin

macrumors 6502
Oct 11, 2016
331
535
Detroit
Work from home has given me so much more:

Sleep: I can sleep a full 2 hours longer in the morning. This means I can be flexible and stay up a little later after kids are in bed.

Diet: I can prepare fresh food from my fridge on my own appliances for lunch. I can also start dinner at a more appropriate time. I do not have to dine out or package and preserve meals. This saves hours on meal preparation.

Money: I was driving 41 miles (65KM) one way to work each day. I would pay $14/day in fuel. $3640/year. 21,000 miles/year. Tires are good for 60,000 miles. Oil change every 7500 miles. The cost savings are huge.

Time with my family: With no commute, I am far less burnt out after work and more likely to have energy to spend with the wife / kids. My wife takes our autistic children to their speech and OT therapy during the day and I am home (in case of emergency) with the other kids. I can run to McDonalds as a treat for the family, I can run to the grocery store on my lunch break and have the food in the fridge within an hour.

Health: All this has added up. Without the time in the car, and more sleep in my schedule, I am much more apt to visit the gym. My labs at the doctor and my BMI have all shifted from the yellow/red warning ranges down to green. I was being seen by my physician every 3-6 months. Last visit, he said "see you in a year!" Goodbye pre-diabetes, hypertension.

Honestly the best thing that has ever happened to me. My performance evaluations have been awesome and we have only had 2-3 (out of 100) staff that have struggled since remote work.

But my administration misses my smiling face, so eventually more than likely.... Time to head back to the office that's always either too hot or too cold and do the exact same work on the exact same laptop I have at home. Public toilets. Odds of an accident on the interstate freeway are 1 in 107 to die. Worth it, right?
 

dazed

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2007
911
211
I don’t have a job where I can work from home but I find it funny how these tech companies have problems with people trying to do that. They could literally turn this to their advantage and create some amazing remote working software but they can’t seem to get their heads out of the past.

Also considering how much they brag about being environmentally conscious and having people work from home is taking thousands of cars off the roads, you’d think they would be banging on that drum to make them look better.
 

seek3r

macrumors 68020
Aug 16, 2010
2,202
3,129
When headcount reductions are mandated, Managers fire the people they don’t know. That’s a fact.
Why would managers not know remote employees? My boss is a couple thousand miles away from me, I talk to him often but I only see him in person maybe a couple times/year.
 
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seek3r

macrumors 68020
Aug 16, 2010
2,202
3,129
Get these cry babies back to work. Enough of this work from home. 3 days is more than generous. They went to the office before COVID they can do it again. If they don’t like it they can quit.
Apple loses a lot more than the engineers do if enough folks take that choice, there's a lot more jobs in the high end of the tech industry right now than engineers to fill them.
 
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temende

macrumors 6502
Oct 28, 2021
320
1,364
Apple loses a lot more than the engineers do if enough folks take that choice, there's a lot more jobs in the high end of the tech industry right now than engineers to fill them.
True, but Apple has always been a bit unorthodox and slightly uncompetitive compensation-wise when you compare to the high end of the tech industry. I think Apple specifically will be fine with return-to-office since the type of people who work there self-select for their passion for Apple and/or not wanting to work for an ad-based company (i.e. Facebook or Google). I agree though that for other tech companies they need to have a real compelling reason to not offer fully remote.
 
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Sikh

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2011
541
318
Just gonna grab some popcorn so I can read how amazing people who WFM are and how productive they are and they never do anything but work

Its obvious you are stuck in your ways but can I ask wtf is WFM? WFH = Work from Home and WFR = Work from Remote. Are you just making new terms up now? Searching "WFM" shows nothing besides "workplace management" but I know you dont mean that
 
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Lihp8270

macrumors 65816
Dec 31, 2016
1,102
1,559
True, but Apple has always been a bit unorthodox and slightly uncompetitive compensation-wise when you compare to the high end of the tech industry. I think Apple specifically will be fine with return-to-office since the type of people who work there self-select for their passion for Apple and/or not wanting to work for an ad-based company (i.e. Facebook or Google). I agree though that for other tech companies they need to have a real compelling reason to not offer fully remote.
Let’s manipulate our staffs good will and passion for the company.

Not a good look for apple.
 
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temende

macrumors 6502
Oct 28, 2021
320
1,364
Let’s manipulate our staffs good will and passion for the company.

Not a good look for apple.
How is it manipulation? It's a calculated decision on Apple's part. Personally I hope enough people leave Apple that it forces them to re-evaluate.
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,096
23,744
Gotta be in it to win it
How is it manipulation? It's a calculated decision on Apple's part. Personally I hope enough people leave Apple that it forces them to re-evaluate.
Apple, probably will not reevaluate. As apple has tightened its hiring, my guess is other Silicon Valley companies may be doing the same.

The irreplaceable high-priced engineer (meme)that could find any job, anywhere will find there aren’t any jobs available.

Employees will have to realign their expectations and make decisions accordingly.
 
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DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
12,821
6,876
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
its fair enough WFH doesn’t work for everyone and flexibility is a good thing, but please don’t assume not being in the office is being lazy, not driving in is a godsend considering the fuel prices or the train services being on strikes lately.
While I agree working from home doesn't equal (blindly) being lazy, but how good is your argument going to be when most people will have EV's in the next 10-12yrs?

Train services isn't the only way to travel to/from work in N. America that I'm aware of.
 

jsalda

macrumors 6502
Jun 6, 2008
368
584
I think WFO and WFH both have their pros/cons, and I think it depends on the job and individual. Working as a freelance creative, I can work from anywhere, but the times that I have collaborated with someone, in person, my projects are much better than if it's something I come up with on my own. However, if you are in a more task oriented job, I would think WFH could be beneficial. To each his own.
 

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,600
1,759
Lard
Why would people deliberately move 3 hours away from their workplace? 🤷🏻

Apple have always said the WFH was temporary, so it’s their own fault. No point in crying now. Move closer or leave the job, but don’t put this on the employer.
...
The price of a house is so much less expensive here that people from the San Francisco Bay Area can afford to live.

It's typically an hour's drive but with so many moving and keeping their jobs, it had become a 3 hour drive.
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
19,454
21,842
Singapore
The price of a house is so much less expensive here that people from the San Francisco Bay Area can afford to live.

It's typically an hour's drive but with so many moving and keeping their jobs, it had become a 3 hour drive.
Isn't that part of the reason why Silicon Valley jobs pay as well as they do - to cover the costs of living in the area, as well as cover the various inconveniences like commute?

If somebody wants to work remotely, draw the same salary while also benefiting from living in a state with a significantly lower cost of living, would the company have reason to reduce their salary accordingly? All other things equal, they would be less valuable compared to someone who could still drive in to the office on certain days where his physical presence was required or at least appreciated.
 

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,600
1,759
Lard
Isn't that part of the reason why Silicon Valley jobs pay as well as they do - to cover the costs of living in the area, as well as cover the various inconveniences like commute?

If somebody wants to work remotely, draw the same salary while also benefiting from living in a state with a significantly lower cost of living, would the company have reason to reduce their salary accordingly? All other things equal, they would be less valuable compared to someone who could still drive in to the office on certain days where his physical presence was required or at least appreciated.
Some people do make enough to live in the SF Bay Area. It's obvious that some have a great deal of money. Near Cupertino and Mountain View, there is a showroom with McLaren cars. Outside Oakland in Emeryville, Best Buy has high end audio that used to be the domain of specialty audio stores.

However, down the block from me, there is a Caltrain-owned truck. Caltrain operates from Gilroy at the south end of Santa Clara County to San Francisco. That person probably drives to San Fran every day and lives here because he can't afford a house in West Bay and his family is too big for an apartment of a reasonable price.

I speak with many people about their journey back to the offices. Most are frustrated but they chose to live out here. Their choice is causing many people who have lived here for years to re-locate to other states or be homeless.
 
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