Some Apple Park Employees Said to Be Dissatisfied With Open Office Design

[BaldiMac]

Open workspaces have been popular for only like a decade. That’s seriously misguided to base such a huge project on a trend. That’s the issue with modernity in general. Look at any cities developed top-down by designers; they don’t work as well in practice. What people have been doing for centuries is likely the better choice, as outdated as it looks to modernist designers.

That would imply that you believe individual offices have been popular for centuries. I don't think that's true.

I think a reasonable argument could be made that individual offices are the real fad and open work spaces are how humanity has functioned for almost all of its existence.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Ungrateful sods. Most people would give their right arm to work for Apple. I’m sure those that leave will be replaced very quickly.

And when those replacements get there and see WHY they left in the first place, they'd leave too, not because it's Apple but because of the way it's set up. You just don't simply slap an open work office 'just because' it's the "kewl" thing to do. That's sheer stupidity.

 

[LordVic]

IME the people who like open plan are those who don't have to experience it. I count myself lucky that I was just ahead of the open plan wave - i.e. I advanced in seniority ahead of the mandate to actually sit in one. When I had the authority so to do I got my people into small shared offices.

As I mentioned earlier, my works been considering moving to open spaces.

they hired a consulting company to come do some group studies and focus groups. They showed us all these fancy drawings of all these fancy (and they are beautiful looking) open spaces.

But me being the ass I usually am to consultants, I asked them if their office was open like the ones they were demoing... they diverted and refused to answer.

I have serious hard time taking the opinion of designers telling me that open office spaces are amzing for work, when they themselves don't use that same setup

 

[poorcody]

I had read an article some time ago about open-office spaces (forget where unfortunately), and the key point that was made was that how "sensitive" a person was, was the key factor. (Sensitive not in any moral sense, just how naturally they tune in or not to other people.) For highly sensitive people, their productivity plummeted in an open-space environment, to the point where they would actually have trouble focusing at all. For those who don't react to other people deeply, it was found to increase productivity as it does increase communication. Of course people fall on a whole spectrum between these poles.

I have worked in a lot of places, open and closed, and I found for me it really depended on the nature of what I was doing. Some of the best environments I found allow you to move from open space to private spaces when you need to concentrate. But my productivity was always higher in private.

I keep thinking about a library: would you be able to study just as well without the quiet?

 

[Lone Deranger]

I have to agree with the open office hate. If coworkers were considerate then it might not be a big issue but they rarely are. Some folks are more immune to ambient office noise and just assume everyone else is too. They talk too loud, hit their keyboards too hard, eat lunch at their desk, chew gum loudly, cough, sneeze, click their pens, and so much more. You don't notice just how noisy other people are until you're surrounded all day long.

Coughing and sneezing? Those inconsiderate bastards... how dare they!!

 

[Shivetya]

damn, that picture looks as bad as a contract I had where we used lunch room tables for desks.

 

[northernbaldy]

It's all open plan where I work and even worse! Hot desks!
We are supposedly just find a desk to work on every morning.
Our team is always split up
No one can ever find us
But worst of all, the desks have a docking station and monitor(s) but the monitors are covered in finger prints! I'm a Design Engineernand a clean freak, I need a clean desk and monitor

 

[Pilgrim1099]

I had read an article some time ago about open-office spaces (forget where unfortunately), and the key point that was made was that how "sensitive" a person was, was the key factor. (Sensitive not in any moral sense, just how naturally they tune in or not to other people.) For highly sensitive people, their productivity plummeted in an open-space environment, to the point where they would actually have trouble focusing at all. For those who don't react to other people deeply, it was found to increase productivity as it does increase communication. Of course people fall on a whole spectrum between these poles.

I have worked in a lot of places, open and closed, and I found for me it really depended on the nature of what I was doing. Some of the best environments I found allow you to move from open space to private spaces when you need to concentrate. But my productivity was always higher in private.

I keep thinking about a library: would you be able to study just as well without the quiet?

Not really. I live in a college town and this library at the campus, recently built a few years ago, is awesome. It has about 4 floors, a cafe, and one huge window on one end taking up all four floors of the view of the green mountains. The study rooms have their own doors so students or anyone can privately do the work in there. They have many chairs with attached tablets ( table/desk ) sprinkled about all over the place, even in some corners or whatnot. And then there's the classic cubicles on each floor. They're not tiny but have plenty of elbow room and a new view of the mountains. I can easily sit down and not be able to see anyone else. Last summer, I went in there so I could do my work privately ( not a student myself ) and it was so damn quiet that only a few students were in the far back by the huge window while I was in the cubicle section embedded in the center of the floor but on the side of it. It made it so much easier to focus and concentrate, say, in contrast to a cafe or similar. It was also air conditioned at the time of the year due to the hot summer even though I prefer the cooler weather such as Fall and Winter.

 

[I7guy]

yeah. over the last few years, there's this big disconnect with the things that the Apple Executives say, and the "Common worker". it's like Apple's small group of executives forgot that not everyone in the world is worth 100 million dollars. They make bold claims about their business, and products that seem to be disconnected.

For example you've got tim cook claiming the iPad is a full computer replacement because he's able to do his work on it. Forgetting that his work isn't reflective of 99.99% of the rest of the world.

or the new MacBook Pro making large compromises for design over function, and schiller exclaiming after the backlash he doesn't understand why some people really hated the new design

or taking almost 5 years to aknowledge that the Mac Pro didn't suit the need they told everyone it should, and they couldn't continue to maintain it.

The Apple executive needs to hire in new, young, and outside talent who are not set in the current executives mindset. Who have been so out of touch with the reality of how people work for so many years.

Let's not forget Steve jobs was responsible for the iPad and now cook is Holding the bag with it.

If these executives were as out of touch as you believe, Apple would be headed in a downward spiral, of which it is not.

As far as the iPad being a computer replacement, I'll bet it is far more for people than one can believe.

 

[glowplug]

"Srouji was like, 'F--— this, my team isn't working like this"

Oh, to work for a boss like that.

 

[Gorms]

This proves the point, doesn't it? Everyone uses headphones as a way to get their private space back. The supposed benefits of "collaboration" completely disappear, because there isn't any.

I have zero argument for this. You actually are completely right

 

[Born Again]

I worked in offices in the 90s where "open plan" typically meant "low walled cubes". When I started hearing about developers complaining about "open plan" offices, I thought they were whining about not having corner offices with a window. I had absolutely no idea people were being made to work sitting at picnic tables.

That's outrageous and I don't know how anyone tolerates it. It's almost enough to make me support unionizing IT workers. I'm glad to hear employees are being brave enough to push back.

i miss the days of having phone calls with my gf now wife and or family. Now i don't make any personal calls at the office at my desk.

how about you guys?

 

[anson42]

I have zero argument for this. You actually are completely right

Really only those who need headphones will obtain their "private" space that way. But they are easily flagged down visually and if they need to reach out, the headphones come off quite easily to start a conversation. In the open environment, even having headphones on makes it easier to collaborate than an enclosed office one, IMO.

 

[ke-iron]

Don’t like it, don’t work there. Plenty of people who are qualified for the job and would not mind the floor plan design.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

My take is we don't have a complete story here. It's one persons tale. This was a huge project years in the making with many of the plans very public. I find it hard to believe the workspace areas were not well vetted with employee reps and heads of departments. The whole point of an office building, esp., when building from scratch, is to provide employees with a conducive work environment.

My gut tells me that these unhappy employees that say they happen to be part of this major mind boggling product and will be leaving after it launches are using the workspace as pretext rather than what they are actually probably doing -- cashing in on their connection to the product. And, of course, if the product isn't go ground breaking, "hey, never mind, these new work spaces are pretty cool."

 

[anson42]

i miss the days of having phone calls with my gf now wife and or family. Now i don't make any personal calls at the office at my desk.

how about you guys?

IMO a well planned open plan office has small "convo" rooms for such conversations, be it for private or for business calls or just private conversations between co-workers. We've even had some dedicated as "lactation" rooms for new moms, replete with fridges. Where I find a completely open floor plan fails is for those teams who have to be on the phone all day, like customer support or inside sales or similar, and a good office design should accommodate for those tasks with, say, higher cubical walls for sound isolation.

For those Apple employees who would leave because of the new open environment, I would think that pickings are slim out there if they want to go back to a non-open environment, especially in the valley.

 

[julesme]

I've worked in open floor plans for the last several years, and more often than not it just doesn't work, distracting employees and forcing them to work with headphones in their ears. The only time it works is when employees have the option to switch back and forth between the open floor OR in an enclosed space like an office or small conf. room depending on their needs in a given day.

Usually companies get it wrong, though, leaving far too few rooms and offices and way too much open space. There has to be a balance.

 

[prowlmedia]

So how come is no one has noticed the important part of that post. They guy it's working on something that is "going to blow peoples minds"

AR glasses that don't look stupid?

Holographic display? Not kidding it's coming.

Neural interface?

 

[ChristianVirtual]

Yeah, I also "suffer" from open space. Noisy, no chance to focus deeply. And even worst the tables we have are swinging with every keystroke other do on their keyboards. And some are like using a hammer to press ENTER.
It is extremely disturbing. Now that the image on the OP is loaded at least they have separated tables to reduce that swing. Lucky for them.

At least, meanwhile, my airpods are delivered and I can listen to music without haveing too big headsets. It gives me bit of own space. Not helping with poor office furnitures.

At time open space is good; but you need also room where you can go back into a cave and work.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

that's bullpoop

Good healthy workplaces are a symbiotic relationship between the employer and employee, where employees feel like they're rewarded justly for the efforts that they do and the business believes they get sufficient value in production and quality in return.

One side of that equation deciding arbitrarily to change the nature of that relationship will have risk that will negatively affect both parties.

If my company decided to make a change to the office layout that resulted in 20% of the workforce quitting, they would be unable to continue to operate their business.

The whole binary thinking of "take it or leave it" is very antagonistic and is not the way to run a business.

I'd bet that if you ever get to run your own business you will not think too much about it.
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What is with this dismissive tone I keep reading of people not giving a damn how employees actually feel at work when they are there for a good portion of their lives? Like nobody should have a say in how they spend 8-16 hours of their day? Youre all sucking apples teat so much and fanboying over "ohhh they're so lucky to work at apple" that you don't stop and think about what really fulfills people in their lives. If someone isn't happy at their job AND they are really talented, the solution shouldn't be to tell them to just quit. Are we living in a culture of employees being replaceable drones where we shouldn't care what makes them happy? No no just freaking no. Losing some good talent because we didn't listen to them and what they need to be good at what they do is a real shame.

I've seen working environments where people sit right next to each other, with filthy carpeting, mold around the A/C vents, no windows, fluorescent lighting that flickers, etc. That's having no consideration for a worker. Regarding the Apple office space, there's nothing close to that there.
It's just that some people want their privacy so they can fool around instead of doing actual work. A little dark hole office where they can do who knows what.
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People like you forget what makes these companies so great are the employees themselves. Losing great people because you treated them like just another number is not the way a company should be managed

What' so bad about this working environment anyway??? (Please see my comments above)
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Which is obviously a bad approach, because some of them might leave, and you'd end up losing talent for nothing.

Real talent wouldn't complain about this working environment.
(see my comment above)

 

[Music Ambulance]

I'm with this guy... 'F--- that, f--- you, f--- this, this is bulls---.'

I'd be pretty keen to hear this kind of language in a keynote.

 

[Born Again]

How many people who replied in this thread don't even work?

 

[Rogifan]

Steve wouldn’t have....oh wait, Apple Park was one of the last things Steve worked on.

 

[skinned66]

It’s all too common for the people that make the decisions to push these open concept collaborative workspaces have no interest in working in them themselves. Good for Srouji standing up for his team.

 

[juiz206]

First world problems...oh no, I work in a company millions would like to and I don't like people talking. Seriously?

At least you work on a clean place, in a rich country lol so many whining.

Why just leave because the room is too big? why dont u talk to people and work it out?

gosh these people that work at Apple are really morons as I imagined.