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New Apple Campus in London's Battersea Power Station to Open in Early 2023
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The tradition is that any attempt to get a taxi to a location on the south is met by the driver using any excuse not to take you. Despite it being a legal requirement to take passengers where they ask to go. (The underlying attitude was probably based on the unlikelihood of getting a return fare. Hence driving back empty and making less money. Also, possibly, lower tips.)
There is a not-very-serious rivalry between north and south London. North Londoners consider north of the river to be real London. I couldn’t possibly comment (I was born in north London), but everything you think of when someone says London to you is probably north of the river. When the Romans founded Londinium it’s where the financial district is now, ie north of the river. North of the river is where all the important stuff is; to give you an idea - in Shakespeare’s time south of the river was for pubs, brothels and theatres.
You might compare it to, say, someone saying that the ‘real’ New York is Manhattan.
People have come to prioritize their quality of life over the perceived productivity gains of a corporate entity. This is as it should be.
I think if there is a problem -- I'm not convinced there is -- it's with the unwillingness or inability of middle management to adapt to changing times. This is not a group with a particularly large or flexible toolbox so it's hardly surprising they're clamoring for a return to the way things were. Not that they were all that good at their jobs before but at least they had a template to follow. Now they're scared, both of their inabilities and for their positions. (Obviously there are decent middle managers; they are not the majority.)
As an engineering manager and senior leader, I've seen what's happening in the market - talent is being lost because businesses are requiring office time, and it's not once or twice a week which a lot of candidates can deal with.
Your experience seems to be limited to local teams - I've managed and am managing a distributed team, both within satellite offices and major hubs (i.e time zone differences). In this case, I've learned that developers still don't want to be disturbed and will happily reach out to others when they needs help, but from my 1:1s in skip meetings, they've all cherished that they feel trusted. With local teams, an expectation that they are freely accessible is all that's needed. We are in a very dynamic and collaborative organisation - a failure in the product I own attracts regulatory eyes. The risks need to be balanced, but my teams have agreed that office time is not mandated, and the wider business is fine with that.
One thing that is important is office culture - and I'm not a fan of it. Recently, I was in office and became an unwilling participant to someone else's conversation, and at another instance, I had full insight into someone's interview. If employees followed office etiquette, things may be different.
I am lucky in that I travel 20 mins by public transport and I am in office, but have previously travelled 45 mins, of which 30-40 mins was on a packed train. That's not an experience I wish to continue and can sympathise with others.
I like many others don't miss the "office culture". It may be nice to meet up with colleagues once in a while to have lunch together, but the daily drudge of droning to and from work - which is effectively wasted time - doesn't benefit anyone.
The nature of today's work is that Slack is a thing. Even in office, when HipChat was around, most people communicated through HipChat. There were useful white boarding sessions, however, this proved to be limited to the resources available - not everywhere had a suitable whiteboard to collaborate on; and nowadays we have diagram tools which are adequate.
I started my career first as a software developer, and soon became a facilitator afterwards. I've worked with many teams and I will always say that each team is unique. Some teams need to see each other more often, others - not. It shouldn't be a blanket decision, but a team decision.
When COVID started, we started to have weekly team lunches and jamming sessions - a time where we'd come together to talk about something random that was either personal or professional. The ability to share this within an org has meant that my teams in two different locations know each other better - and they're not in the same office building.
Are you really bringing up a sinfully ugly building that looks like it belongs on a council estate as an argument for not knocking down another sinfully ugly red brick building?
Hampton Court Palace looks like a council estate? Unpleasantly snobbish and obviously absurd. Good grief.
This is right near the (new, huge) US Embassy. Lots of US-centric shops (selling American groceries etc) nearby, so Apple will fit right in! The adjacent Battersea Park is also pretty nice.
There's also a brand new Tube station (Battersea Power Station Station 😂) and loads of very expensive new flats. The area might lack soul and authenticity, but it's no dump.
You're just not going to find high-quality office space for 1400 employees in Notting Hill, sorry.
The area is full of expensive flats, eventually I settled on an investment property in Canary Wharf.
Nine Elms and the surrounding area is nice though
Conclusion Is based on “garbage in garbage out”, principle. But apple software imo “does not suck” period.
Do you know who worked from home and who didn’t. The campus wasn’t empty, empty since mar 2020.
Maybe their quality assurance methods.
Well it kinda did work for apple, but not as efficiently as management wanted.
This is begging for a citation.
So they will rehire.
You don’t know if a hefty bonus may be in store.
Maybe.
Generally Apple pays bonuses well in the UK, about 70% of the base, as well as RSU.
Talent from Apple heading out is generally variable, and Apple went on a bit of a hiring spree in the past two years.
Your comment about QA is somewhat more on point, they have(d) a vigorous QA process which was just broken.
What an ugly building. Is that the best Apple can do?
Seems like it will be another beautiful Apple location.
completed in 1929 and still in use
my shelter from Pigs on the wing
A Category B Listed Building in Govan, Glasgow
Amazing building went there before and after the rebuild, glad they kept it! it looks stunning in real life!