Apple reverses remote work policy, Exec moves to Alphabet

This is an embarrassing situation. One of Apple’s most prominent back-to-office critics is said to have gotten a new gig at Alphabet’s DeepMind, marking the latest drama about Big Tech’s remote work squabbles. Ironically, this move comes at the same time that Apple has decided to undo its latest push to go back to the office

In an internal note seen before Bloomberg Tuesday, the company said it will postpone the three-day office work requirement that is due to take effect on May 23. The memorandum reportedly cited the last memo Height In covid-19 cases due to delay and no difficult date provided for when to try again. Apple workers still have to work in the office two days a week and will now have to wear masks in public.

At the same time, Ian Goodfellow, the former director of machine learning at Apple, who has largely left the company at least in part due to remote working restrictions, will It said Join Alphabet’s DeepMind. Sources told Bloomberg that Goodfellow will be joining DeepMind as an “individual contributor.” Previously he worked as a senior researcher at Google in 2019.

This job change is a huge blow to Apple, the company that struggles to please workers who disagree with its return-to-work strategy. It is said that Goodfellow, who is the oldest known member who has hopped on board for remote work so far directed The problem is directly in a staff note obtained by Zoë Schiffer from The Verge. Goodfellow reportedly wrote: “I strongly believe that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team.”

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Goodfellow’s departure came around the same time a group of Apple employees wrote an Open Message For company executives who criticize policies they claim are “driven by fear”.

“We are not asking to force everyone to work from home,” the letter read. “We ask that we decide for ourselves, along with our teams and our line manager, what kind of arrangement is best for each of us, whether it’s an office, working from home, or a co-ed approach. Stop treating us like schoolchildren who need to be told when we should be, where and what to do.”

Workers are, more than ever, ready to ditch their companies due to workplace flexibility. According to the ADP in April ReportNearly two-thirds (64%) of US workers said they would consider looking for a new job if forced to return to a full-time office.

Apple did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.

It’s worth noting that Alphabet didn’t fully embrace a remote office first, either. Google, the largest workforce in the conglomerate, moved to its mixed work week in April required Employees work from their desk three days a week. This sounds very similar to Apple’s suggestion, though previous reports indicate that Google more regularly approves remote requests. As of last August, the company mentionedfor any Approval of 85% of employee requests to work remotely or relocate. Gizmodo contacted DeepMind for more details about the approval process for remote work, but they declined to comment.