Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th • Hacker News Board

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#271

Post by calculatte » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:37 PM UTC

gdulli wrote: post #199

calculatte wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The PR Firm Impact Research sent a report to the Democrats on Feb 22, 2022 urging them to lift all restrictions & claim victory for political points. Immediately after, restrictions lifted. Do your own assessment of the facts. Leaked memo https://punchbowl.news/impact-covid-positioning-strategy-mem...

With covid numbers falling from the inevitable January spike after the holidays, lifting omicron restrictions was always going to happen sometime this spring. (Barring some new deadly hypothetical variant.) But I don't doubt that both parties factor PR into all of their decisions, down to how they dress. The implication that a PR firm could dictate that the country would remain shut down until November despite covid…

And arguably the covid numbers were only high was because of dishonest and inflated counting. Now they are "low" because the risk policy was changed. https://fee.org/articles/the-cdc-changed-its-covid-risk-form...

Thinking PR doesn't dictate politics is what is really silly. If PR didn't matter, we wouldn't be inundated with ridiculous propaganda 24/7. They aren't "paying attention" to us, they are manufacturing consent and telling you what to think through all forms of media.

Now, how long until this gets censored?

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#272

Post by shoulderfake » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:37 PM UTC

abledon wrote: post #111

tombert wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

COVID made my situation worse at Apple. I worked in a satellite office (NYC), and while in the office, most folks in California were reluctant to schedule meetings later than ~2pm california time because they didn't want to keep people in the office late. When we went fully remote, suddenly it seems like any compunctions about that vanished; I would have meetings until 9pm 3 nights a week, I guess because the manager…

> b) there's no such thing as "my own time" with Apple, since I was salaried and well-compensated. Is there 1 FAANG company that is the most friendly/accomodating to someone who wants to develop their own software/indiegames on the side?

No post body was provided.

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#273

Post by birdyrooster » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:37 PM UTC

xanaxagoras wrote: post #219

birken wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't think the fact that this country just had the largest ever COVID wave (in terms of cases), which is in the process of ending, is at all related to the decisions? Also of the scant 40 million people remaining in California, who haven't yet moved to Texas or Florida, public support for at least some "COVID protocols" are very high [1]. I'm not sure you are giving an impartial assessment of the facts. 1: https…

I don't see that where I am. Most people have stopped wearing masks in public. 2 months ago everyone was wearing one.

When I visited Ohio last summer, no one was wearing masks inside anywhere

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#274

Post by ModernMech » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:38 PM UTC

mochomocha wrote: post #260

abledon wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> b) there's no such thing as "my own time" with Apple, since I was salaried and well-compensated. Is there 1 FAANG company that is the most friendly/accomodating to someone who wants to develop their own software/indiegames on the side?

Netflix. As long as you don't compete directly with the business, the company doesn't care (at least that's how I interpreted my contract when I joined a while ago).

> As long as you don't compete directly with the business, the company doesn't care

I've found, as long as you're not making money no one cares what you're doing. As soon as money starts coming in, a lot of people are very interested in what you're doing. My totally uninformed guess would be that one of the first questions Netflix (or really any company) has about your off-company-time product is 1) does it make money and 2) how much. The answers to those questions will determine how the conversation goes from there, and how many lawyers are involved.

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#275

Post by xenadu02 » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:38 PM UTC

dnathi493 wrote: post #5

I left Apple after years of lack of any flexibility on the remote work process. They wouldn't allow transferring to any alternative office for most teams. From what I understood, VPs could protect a small minority of some of their employees if a senior leader made a case to them. Unfortunately, this just seemed to lead to the most politically connected folks going remote and directors friends and favorite hires getti…

Fair warning: my experience has been very different than yours or tombert's in most respects and some things have changed over time (some OSS contributions are now much easier, a very recent change). It is also the first company I've worked for that backed up appreciation for my efforts with compensation to match, and where my management chain cared about burnout and mental health with actions rather than empty words.

It is still primarily an on-site company. That might mean on-site an an office in San Diego, Austin, Philadelphia, NYC, etc. But in-office nonetheless.

Every team does things differently, even down to the department or individual manager level. Compared to the other FAANGs it is far more varied in most respects. Just because someone didn't like (or loves) their role doesn't mean you will feel the same way about it. If possible I recommend talking to people who work in the department you are interested in.

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#276

Post by birdyrooster » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:39 PM UTC

dpweb wrote: post #218

throwaway1777 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Politics plain and simple. COVID protocols are very unpopular at this point and not every effective. Florida and Texas are having big inflows, california and New York huge outflows. Whatever your viewpoint this is the fact politicians see. And yes taxes and cost of living are a huge driving force not only COVID, but as long as remote work goes on people will keep moving to low cost of living and low tax states.

People are leaving for FL and TX cause taxes you add in the salt deduction change its considerable. Have lived in FL TX and NY. Add in weather and TX and FL are actually nice places to live for the most part.

Texas weather is awful I have no idea where you are getting this from. I lived in multiple Texas cities and they are bad for their own reasons.

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#277

Post by VBprogrammer » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:39 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #97

dnathi493 wrote: post #5

I left Apple after years of lack of any flexibility on the remote work process. They wouldn't allow transferring to any alternative office for most teams. From what I understood, VPs could protect a small minority of some of their employees if a senior leader made a case to them. Unfortunately, this just seemed to lead to the most politically connected folks going remote and directors friends and favorite hires getti…

COVID made my situation worse at Apple. I worked in a satellite office (NYC), and while in the office, most folks in California were reluctant to schedule meetings later than ~2pm california time because they didn't want to keep people in the office late. When we went fully remote, suddenly it seems like any compunctions about that vanished; I would have meetings until 9pm 3 nights a week, I guess because the manager…

> When we went fully remote, suddenly it seems like any compunctions about that vanished; I would have meetings until 9pm 3 nights a week

This is why there is a decline button next to the accept button. An outage or something disastrous, sure I'll stay online till midnight to help in anyway I can; a regular status update type meeting, no way.

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#278

Post by neuralspark » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:41 PM UTC

birdyrooster wrote: post #270

CamperBob2 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Woz to HP management: "Hey, I know we already sell computers, want to have a look at this one? If not, can I sell it myself?" HP to Woz: "Sure, go for it, good luck." Apple to their own employees: "Uh, let's see here.... how about 'No.' Does 'No' work? Good, then we'll go with 'No.'" Gotta love the Valley. You either flame out early, or you live long enough to become the face on the telescreen.

I don't understand what this is supposed to mean.

It's a reference to Apple's 1984 commercial

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#279

Post by driverdan » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:43 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #97

dnathi493 wrote: post #5

I left Apple after years of lack of any flexibility on the remote work process. They wouldn't allow transferring to any alternative office for most teams. From what I understood, VPs could protect a small minority of some of their employees if a senior leader made a case to them. Unfortunately, this just seemed to lead to the most politically connected folks going remote and directors friends and favorite hires getti…

COVID made my situation worse at Apple. I worked in a satellite office (NYC), and while in the office, most folks in California were reluctant to schedule meetings later than ~2pm california time because they didn't want to keep people in the office late. When we went fully remote, suddenly it seems like any compunctions about that vanished; I would have meetings until 9pm 3 nights a week, I guess because the manager…

Put your work hours in your calendar and auto decline everything outside those hours. Refuse that nonsense.

Re: Tim Cook tells employees the return to offices will begin on April 11th

#280

Post by giantrobot » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:44 PM UTC

nickff wrote: post #257

sdoering wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. Thanks for the insights. > work at a fast-paced startup and still work on average 10/hours a week less than at Apple. I am always floored by statements like this. I work as a principal data analyst and everything above 40 hours/week is overtime. While I have overtime included in my contract I still am able to reduce overtime (it is still being tracked to ensure compliance with local workers protection laws) if t…

> "While I have overtime included in my contract I still am able to reduce overtime (it is still being tracked to ensure compliance with local workers protection laws) if the project situation allows." The people talking about working long hours at Apple are getting paid commensurately. There's a reason why people work at FAANG companies despite the constant complaints.

> The people talking about working long hours at Apple are getting paid commensurately.

Not really. Most divisions in SWE do stack ranking (unofficially). The top quintile (decile in some groups) gets a majority of compensation at review time. The bottom half is lucky to get a cost of living adjustment to their base pay. They likely will get no RSUs and little if any cash bonus.

Despite the disparity in compensation everyone on a team is expected to put in overtime. Anyone that doesn't is guilted over not being a "team player", put on a PIP, outright threatened with firing. If you get put on a PIP there is zero guidance to get off.