Apple's Machine Learning Director Ian Goodfellow decided to let go of his position due to the manufacturer's work-from-office policies.
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People shop in an Apple retail store in Grand Central Terminal, January 3, 2019 in New York City. U.S. stocks dropped again on Thursday after Apple warned that its first-quarter sales would be less than expected.
Goodfellow is just one of the Apple employees who are resigning because of in-person rules implemented by the giant iPhone maker during the ongoing pandemic.
When the global pandemic started, Apple workers and other tech employees wanted a permanent WFH situation.
"I believe strongly that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team," shared Goodfellow via 9To5Mac's latest report.
Apple Machine Learning Director Resigns!
Goodfellow is among the most valuable professionals working for Apple. Before he became the iPhone maker's ML director, he worked with Google in 2019.
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A person walks by an Apple Store on April 23, 2013 in San Francisco, California. Analysts believe that Apple Inc. will report their first quarterly loss in nearly a decade as the company prepares to report first quarter earnings today after the closing bell.
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When he started to work for Apple, people started to refer to Ian as the father of GANs (general adversarial networks), a technology used in some Apple products, such as iPhone chargers.
Although he found great success with Apple, it seems like Goodfellow doesn't like the work-from-office policies implemented by the giant tech firm.
Ian Goodfellow, Apple’s director of machine learning, is leaving the company due to its return to work policy. In a note to staff, he said “I believe strongly that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team.” He was likely the company’s most cited ML expert.
— Zoë Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) May 7, 2022
The gadget maker started to re-implement in-person work rules on Apr. 11. But, many employees are still against it since the pandemic is still there.
With Goodfellow gone from Apple, some critics claimed that this would further encourage other high-profile workers of the company to leave, which can increase the attrition rate.
Negative Effects of Work-From-Office
Viccarbe explained that work-from-office has some benefits, such as better teamwork, more efficient brainstorming, etc.
But, since the global pandemic is still happening, in-person working situations also negatively affect individuals now using WFH.
These include the following:
- Lack of privacy, especially for introverted staff.
- Some people are experienced increased stress or anxiety when they are asked to go back to the office.
- Many individuals are now becoming distracted if they are in a room with other employees.
If you want to see more details about the downsides and benefits of work-from-office, you can visit this link.
Recently, Apple confirmed that the custom Mac Studio and Mac Pro units would experience some delays.
On the other hand, Apple Maryland workers decided to unionize as they demanded better working hours and pay.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
