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Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

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Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#581

Post by faeyanpiraat »

InvaderFizz wrote: post #313
gnicholas wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The food/drink part could be the most of it. A Google employee enjoying free food and drink could save $60/day versus buying prepared food ($10 for breakfast, $20 for lunch, and $30 for dinner). If you drink much coffee or other beverages, that could be another $15/day. If you weigh this against spending an extra hour or two commuting, then it looks like a lousy bargain. But if you are like many people, and ended up…

> But if you are like many people, and ended up working more hours during the pandemic, [1] then that erases some/all of the gains of not commuting. Wow. I cut my hours down substantially due to WFH. Pre-COVID I was doing 70+ hrs per week due to commuting into the area during the week and having nothing to do. Now I put in maybe 40hrs per week, broken up into 1hr chunks here and there and I'm not spending over $1500/…

Are you working less because you save commute time, and work more efficiently at your home workstation?

Or are you just clocking in less, also producing less?

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#582

Post by ergocoder »

dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #457
ergocoder wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll help fake cough walking around. This helps you be more cautious and careful (e.g. I'm saving your life here). Companies may get complain and let people work from home. It's a win for me and for you. Apple employees: when Tim Cook is around, just fake a cough politely.

For extra points, bite on a fake blood capsule beforehand.

Just say out loud "why can't I taste anything?"

No need to invest in a blood capsule.

Even with vaccine, there is 1-2% to contract covid. Even you can't die, you will still be scared to give it to your kids.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#583

Post by qaq »

aerosmile wrote: post #332

It's very unfortunate that the WFH experiment didn't turn out to be a 100% winner. We had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do all office work from home for the rest of our lives, and it certainly feels like that most companies didn't love it. There are obviously some exceptions, but what matters is what 90% of them will do - and right now it looks like that they will be asking for on-site presence somewhere in the…

"once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" that sounds too optimistic I wouldn't bet against a COVID variant emerging that requires us to do this all over again.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#584

Post by cyberpsybin »

ripper1138 wrote: post #237
sam0x17 wrote: post #170

Curious to see how many quit over this. A lot in the tech industry (myself included) seem completely done with not working from home, especially when there is no excuse for working in-person. Tech offices for pure-software projects have also become morally indefensible from the perspective of resource consumption and climate change. That said it's true that Apple does do some R&D that requires an in-person presence,…

That’s a very cynical take. Morally indefensible? That’s an incredible hyperbole. People may quit sure but CEOs are responsible for getting value to share holders and many honestly do believe that in office or hybrid model works toward that goal. If it was only about office space they could write that off and be done with it.

Got keep eyes on the slaves. What else.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#585

Post by dhx »

cgio wrote: post #310
k-mcgrady wrote: post #60

"Cook wrapped up the memo by saying that he's looking forward to seeing employee faces. "I know I'm not alone in missing the hum of activity, the energy, creativity and collaboration of our in-person meetings and the sense of community we've all built," he wrote." CEO's all spout the same nonsense. The majority of people work because they need to earn money. They're not working to make a new 'family' or change the wo…

CEOs and leadership teams would not mind remote work I believe, at least not as a general rule, given there are benefits to the bottom line, e.g. real estate, other expenses, productivity arguably. What I think is the key concern for leadership teams, is that remote work does not allow for an environment to train the next generation of workers. Most of the experienced people do just fine remotely, but imagine wfh exc…

What is the benefit of mentoring or guiding less experienced workers through new tasks in person as opposed to remotely with voice calls and screen sharing / live multi-user document editing / similar real time collaboration tools?

I've generally found remote work a better model as all people involved can edit the same document / diagram / model / code at the same time collaboratively, or at least have a better view of a screen than what is projected at low quality on a wall or displayed on a single monitor that isn't large enough for people to read at a distance. Whiteboards are OK for toy problems but are a hindrance for anything complex.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#586

Post by cheschire »

decodebytes wrote: post #577
cheschire wrote: post #571

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think some folks with crippling social anxiety might have a bone to pick with this assertion.

Surely if they have crippling social anxiety, being stuck in an office all day with others where they are expected to socialise no matter how bad their anxiety might be playing up on any given day, is far worse? Also the only social part I referenced was coffee with close friends. I think drinking a coffee with an understanding friend(s) is much easier then being around 20+ colleagues for 8 hours straight.

I cannot speak to what is easier or not. I was simply pointing out that you were laying down a blanket assertion that it was lazy and undisciplined, and that might not be universally appreciated.

Just because someone has extreme social anxiety doesn't mean they permanently refuse to take action. Sometimes they succeed in actively overcoming it and are capable of forming connections. Being in an environment where you can passively observe the character of others does tend to make it easier to approach them on the days when you're feeling up to it. A person might choose to work in an office because they understand this benefit of consistent forced exposure.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#587

Post by dougmwne »

fullshark wrote: post #363
sam0x17 wrote: post #170

Curious to see how many quit over this. A lot in the tech industry (myself included) seem completely done with not working from home, especially when there is no excuse for working in-person. Tech offices for pure-software projects have also become morally indefensible from the perspective of resource consumption and climate change. That said it's true that Apple does do some R&D that requires an in-person presence,…

My prediction: Talk is cheap and all the bellyaching will amount to maybe a temporary increase in attrition for a quarter (2x perhaps?) but negligible long term.

Here's my own prediction from going through this 5 years ago and being out of the office for awhile then going back on-site. It felt like going back and sitting in a high school classroom after I had already graduated. I had always been inside the rat maze and was suddenly outside it for the first time. My eyes were permanently opened to just how unnecessary to our jobs being physically present was and how much less I was getting done and how much more stress I had performing my work rather than doing my work.

There was no going back for me. I quit after 3 months on-site and found a remote job. I predict I will not be alone.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#588

Post by wizardofmysore »

Nbox9 wrote: post #51

I work for another company that is going to do a partial return to office. I will be looking at options for companies that offer full in person office (or 90% in person office) after things settle down. I have worked full remote for a total of 5 years of my career, and I believe working in the office is a competitive advantage. * Overhearing hallway conversations (and joining them) helps spawn invocation. * I often d…

Working from home has been a boom pretty much for the same reasons mentioned as in the pro.

Random noises and sounds takes away focus and brings me out of "the zone".

I have a separate area where I work, I don't work any place other than that.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#589

Post by randomsearch »

ashtonkem wrote: post #375
heavyset_go wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I save money by spending less on food, drinks, and electricity. For those of us who have to commute, it's not exactly the norm to be saving money while commuting. Commutes are responsible for a 10% drop in hourly wages[1], and the median commute time results in spending 10 full days commuting a year. The average commuter in one of the largest metro areas in the country will spend over 13 full days commuting a year:…

Commutes also cost the one thing we can't get back; time.

If you use public transport, you can regain that time. In the UK you can get a seat on most rush hour trains, and even standing up on the Tube you can read a book, listen to a podcast, do your email etc. It's also good thinking time.

Driving a car yep you're absolutely right, but if you commute via car a long distance for a considerable amount of time I think you're crazy.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#590

Post by [deleted] »

ripper1138 wrote: post #237
sam0x17 wrote: post #170

Curious to see how many quit over this. A lot in the tech industry (myself included) seem completely done with not working from home, especially when there is no excuse for working in-person. Tech offices for pure-software projects have also become morally indefensible from the perspective of resource consumption and climate change. That said it's true that Apple does do some R&D that requires an in-person presence,…

That’s a very cynical take. Morally indefensible? That’s an incredible hyperbole. People may quit sure but CEOs are responsible for getting value to share holders and many honestly do believe that in office or hybrid model works toward that goal. If it was only about office space they could write that off and be done with it.

[deleted]
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