Apple's Director of Machine Learning Resigns Due to Return to Office Work

[Rafterman]

I feel most of their software development could be done from home. My own software team all work from home and if anything we're more productive now due to not wasting time traveling to and from the office and all the exhaustion and stress that causes. I had some employees who had to travel for an hour each morning and evening to/from work and that just sucks.

Also a fringe benefit to working from home is employees are able to work outside of normal hours on things. When you're writing software and you're in the zone you don't want to stop, you want to chase that motivation you have in the moment. So if you're up at 2am at home coding that's your prerogative and it wont happen in a physical work space, it's just not possible to travel into work at 2am to knock out some code. You clock out at 6 PM and go home and hope you still have that motivation the next day.

And you know sometimes I might code something on a friday, go home and when I come back on a monday it takes me an hour just to read the code and remember what it was I was doing with it. That's just not a thing now that I code from home because I stop and start projects on my own time, I might take a 15 minute break and come back to it. I might do some over the weekend just because it's enjoyable.

I can't speak to the experience for their workers who do hardware, I imagine it's a lot harder due to the need to produce prototypes, accept a lot of physical deliveries from component providers etc but for most software I think they could go remote and if anything produce better software, I speak from experience in that it didn't just work for us, it made us better.

In my own University IT department, sick time and other time off (e.g., waiting for deliveries or whatever) is down by 30 percent with zero loss in productivity.

As long as you have grown-ups not taking advantage, work from home works brilliantly for many.

 

[addamas]

Same is at my work, SW/HW testing. As everything is centralized and we reach computers even in the office remotely there is no point to work only from office. Personally every day I was losing for commuting about 3h (thank you “working” road workers and regarded commute in Cracow).

About productivity- for me it’s way better as people are reachable and I could make notes also recordings for every meeting.

Since Covid I visit office like 2-3 times in 2-3 months. If employee decide that we have to work from office I sign out for sure.

 

[mikethemartian]

What do we do with all of the office buildings? We rezone the areas around them and convert them into housing that is affordable for the masses!

You do whatever course brings you back the greatest return or recovery of your investment. Apple has so much money it doesn’t matter to them but for most companies having funds tied up in real estate they don’t need and don’t rent out is a waste of money.

 

[ipponrg]

Speak for yourself. At my work, our metrics went up when we started working from home. There's a directive from above that we should begin transitioning away from work-from-home, and the director or our division said, and I'm paraphrasing now, "over my dead body".

At my work, people can declare fully remote vs hybrid vs on-site. No one is arguing given the 3 different options. I'm somewhat surprised that Apple is mandating it.

For myself, I said I was coming on-site because I feel more productive. For the last 6 months, my office floor in NYC is pretty barren and empty. I got no problems with that because it separates my work life from my home life. With that said, we've been doing this approach even before the pandemic, so the consequences are not illuminating.

 

[God of Biscuits]

At-home discipline will never equal at-school discipline.

Just like you'd never be comfortable with a home-schooled heart surgeon; or get on a rocket built by engineers who worked from home.

Anyway, that said, good riddance to him. There are no irreplaceable people.

At home you're not sitting a few feet away from someone else, using stuff on your desk, and headphones and arrangement of displays and whatever else you can to create some sense of privacy for yourself so you can focus. You're not sitting in lighting that's likely far too bright. You're not being interrupted according to someone else's needs.

Doing your job isn't the same as being home-schooled.

 

[Rafterman]

Wow, you're presumptuous AF. At home you're not sitting a few feet away from someone else, using stuff on your desk, and headphones and arrangement of displays and whatever else you can to create some sense of privacy for yourself so you can focus. You're not sitting in lighting that's likely far too bright. You're not being interrupted according to someone else's needs.

Doing your job isn't the same as being home-schooled. Where does that even come from? That's not even an analogy. I've worked on distributed teams, in-house teams, I've worked at home, I've traveled every day. I've done it all. You seriously dont' know what you're talking about. You're incredibly selfish. And clueless.

I can't help but feel there is a certain amount of jealousy for people who get to work from home.

 

[SoldOnApple]

How can you stop people from stealing trade secrets if they work from home?

 

[sorgo †]

I can't help but feel there is a certain amount of jealousy for people who get to work from home.

I will admit envying those with the distinct privilege of being employed by a world-class company like Apple, and that includes having the opportunity to work in an environment like the world-famous Cupertino “spaceship.” I feel little more than pity, however, for those who can’t or don’t wish to professionally separate their work and home worlds and who are apparently so inept that they can’t derive anything but frustration and annoyance from in-person interaction and collaboration.

 

[pshufd]

Absolutely no reason for anyone to work in the office. Zoom/Teams is perfectly fine, and likely more efficient than being in an office. I mean, you at least save the hour or 2 you waste commuting every day.

At my last job, most of my team was in India, some in Mexico and some in California. If I worked in the office, I spent my time on Slack and Zoom. If I worked at home, same thing. The only thing missing at home was free coffee. The equipment was the same as well - I used my own gear at home and in the office. Two MacBook Pros which I brought back and forth.

I've seen projects where everyone worked from home and this is going back 15 years. I've seen where we bought out companies that were completely remote. All of the employees worked out of their homes. I've seen teams where everyone comes into the office too.

I don't know the culture at Apple.

A lot of companies are dealing with this issue now. A good place to see the complaints are thelayoff.com. I guess that there aren't a lot of layoffs these days so people go there to complain about things at their workplaces.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Humans collaborate most effectively and build and maintain productive, mutually beneficial relationships when mixing in groups face-to-face. That’s just how we evolved to become the dominant species. Nothing is going to change that except maybe a few hundred thousand years of Zoom, so I can see why a company like Apple is keen to not destroy that aspect of their working culture.

 

[mikethemartian]

Wow, the projection is astounding (and predictable). I am a blue-collar conservative and I respect the capitalist whims exacted by companies such as Apple; I also understand the privilege and honor that is having a job at which to show up regardless of one’s own perceived level of success.

Further, it’s really quite sad that anyone would exclusively reserve basic decency and respect for the “successful,” but then apparently some of us were dragged up rather than properly raised.

I’m a die hard free market capitalist. Apple has the right to pursue its best financial interests and the person that quit has the right to pursue theirs. Just the same way I have the right to pursue mine and you have the right to pursue yours. I don’t care what political associations you affiliate yourself with, if you think that your economic cohort is somehow entitled to a more noble standing than some other and that they owe you something then you believe in entitlements and socialism. No one owes me and I don’t owe anyone (other than my parents). I don’t begrudge someone else being more financially successful than me or pretend that my life is any more virtuous than theirs. That is the province of envious people who want to blame others for the adverse conditions in their life instead of recognizing that the most important factor in determining where they are today is their own past decisions.

 

[michaelsviews]

Cool. How does Starbucks make your drinks?

In the future it'll probably be robots, or do they have that now

 

[sorgo †]

I’m a die hard free market capitalist. Apple has the right to pursue its best financial interests and the person that quit has the right to pursue theirs. Just the same way I have the right to pursue mine and you have the right to pursue yours. I don’t care what political associations you affiliate yourself with, if you think that your economic cohort is somehow entitled to a more noble standing than some other and that they owe you something then you believe in entitlements and socialism. No one owes me and I don’t owe anyone (other than my parents). I don’t begrudge someone else being more financially successful than me or pretend that my life is any more virtuous than theirs. That is the province of envious people who want to blame others for the adverse conditions in their life instead of recognizing that the most important factor in determining where they are today is their own past decisions.

Well stated and fair enough. Hopefully Mr. Goodfellow can too eventually share in that recognition that as a perfectly capable adult he isn’t owed special treatment.

 

[Boris Bronson]

I will admit envying those with the distinct privilege of being employed by a world-class company like Apple, and that includes having the opportunity to work in an environment like the world-famous Cupertino “spaceship.” I feel little more than pity, however, for those who can’t or don’t wish to professionally separate their work and home worlds and who are apparently so inept that they can’t derive anything but frustration and annoyance from in-person interaction and collaboration.

You’re projecting all that on homeworkers. You’re literally getting annoyed about something that’s all in your imagination.

This high ranking Apple dude must be realising the error of his ways now you’ve called him inept.

 

[BorderingOn]

I’m programmer who works from home.
I’ve never been so productive.
I’ve never been so rested.

It seems like many here have never worked in an office. I work more at home than I ever did at an office with the constant interruptions.

 

[19callum93]

Get a grip. Get to work!

 

[pshufd]

In the future it'll probably be robots, or do they have that now

We bought a Keurig machine at the start of the pandemic and have been enjoying coffee made by a robot for a couple of years.

 

[sorgo †]

You’re projecting all that on homeworkers. You’re literally getting annoyed about something that’s all in your imagination.

This high ranking Apple dude must be realising the error of his ways now you’ve called him inept.

God willing. I just hope you work-from-home fetishists are happy when Apple issues another dismal, bland release with iOS 16.

 

[Rafterman]

God willing. I just hope you work-from-home fetishists are happy when Apple issues another dismal, bland release with iOS 16.

Dismal, bland releases of iOS have been happening long before 2020.

 

[Boris Bronson]

God willing. I just hope you work-from-home fetishists are happy when Apple issues another dismal, bland release with iOS 16.

I’m neither happy nor sad with iOS releases. They’re not important to my mental well-being.

 

[sorgo †]

Humans collaborate most effectively and build and maintain productive, mutually beneficial relationships when mixing in groups face-to-face. That’s just how we evolved and become the dominant species. Nothing is going to change that except maybe a few hundred thousand years of Zoom, so I can see why a company like Apple is keen to not destroy that aspect of their working culture.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. F the New Normal! Unplug from the Metaverse! We do not consent! 🗣

Dismal, bland releases of iOS have been happening long before 2020.

Ok

 

[v3rlon]

Working from home certainly doesn’t seem as productive in my experience. Necessary during lockdown does not mean better overall.

My children were not getting as good an education from teachers during homeschooling and it wasn’t even close. So either teachers aren’t as productive working remotely or they were just slacking.

Personally I believe, without hard data, that working remotely damages teams and makes it easier to move on. When you work with Bob every day, and joke about sports teams and share pictures of kids, you are friends (sort of, at least). When Brand X offers you 5% to jump ship, you think, “Gee, I really like working with Bob, and my boss Cheryl is really cool, too. I am not sure what I would be getting into starting over.” Working remotely, you are no better than social media friends. Brand X offers you 5%, and you poke Bob and Cheryl in the forehead to unfriend them and take the extra cash.

No a team that fragile is in no way as productive as a tightly knit team that occasionally breaks bread together and helps each other out from time to time.

 

[Analog Kid]

FWIW, even Zoom and Slack themselves seem to think it’s important to have a large corporate office in a major city…

 

[Rafterman]

FWIW, even Zoom and Slack themselves seem to think it’s important to have a large corporate office in a major city…

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I'm pretty sure those buildings existed before 2020. But what is their current occupied percentage? I'll bet its not 100 percent.

 

[pshufd]

My children were not getting as good an education from teachers during homeschooling and it wasn’t even close. So either teachers aren’t as productive working remotely or they were just slacking.

What you are talking about is not homeschooling. It is school-at-home.

It takes a lot of planning, work and time. A lot of money helps too.