5 ms·

Apple’s new $5B campus has a 100,000-square-foot gym and no daycare

30 points by yladiz 9y ago

matt_wulfeck 9y ago
Daycare to me seems like an enormous liability, and is also widely available already. Personally I would prefer a daycare credit each month that I can spend where I please. I think Apple made the right choice.
- aeturnum 9y ago
  You're right, but gyms are also an enormous liability and widely available. It's not that either service must be offered by the employer, it's more a rorschach test to see how the company thinks about what services will most enable their workers to be productive. As an employee, I'd certainly take onsite childcare over a gym.
  - dismantlethesun 9y ago
    Liabilities against adults are treated differently than liabilities against children.
    - aeturnum 9y ago
      In that case, maybe they can only offer 25,000 sq. feet of childcare space for the cost of 100,000 sq. feet of gym. The choice to not offer it all together still feels meaningful.
- protomyth 9y ago
  Daycare is not an "enormous liability". It is rather easy to insulate your company by hiring an outside vendor to run the daycare (they will probably do a better job). There are quite a few and they are skilled in safety, safety procedures, and regulations. Apple sends a pretty clear signal as to what they want out of an employee with this campus.
- chrisbrandow 9y ago
  Giving employees a credit ensures that they will be taking one more trip on their way to and or from work. No solution fits everyone, but an on-site option is so much better for many parents, particularly women with babies that are still nursing. Being able to pop over during lunch hour is also an enormous benefit. I spoken to a couple parents that it had this kind of an arrangement, it was so, so valuable to them. While nothing is ever as simple as it seems, this seems like a major missed opportunity for "employee sat".
emtel 9y ago
There are a lot of places in the valley where it is illegal to build child care facilities, due to environmental hazards. This may not necessarily be an oversight on Apple's part.
- Bud 9y ago
  Overwhelmingly likely to NOT be an oversight. I worked on Apple Park for a year as the IT guy on-site. I can tell you that every conceivable detail was painstakingly planned. And many inconceivable details, as well.
zyang 9y ago
Apple Park partially sits on a superfund site - not the best place to build a daycare.
wand3r 9y ago
Article notes it is not commonplace for daycare to be included and flips the Apple HQ launch into a personification of Jobs poor parenting of his daughters. They arent exactly wrong; but this is agenda first journalism 101.
JustSomeNobody 9y ago
I don't agree with this article. Rather than a DayCare facility, just be flexible with your employees when they have to run and pick up a sick child. Let them make up the hours by working at home after the child has been taken care of.
dang 9y ago
This article is cribbed from https://www.wired.com/2017/05/apple-park-new-silicon-valley-campus/ https://www.wired.com/2017/05/apple-park-new-silicon-valley-... which is currently being discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14349147 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14349147. Submitters: the HN guidelines ask you to submit original sources. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- yladiz 9y ago
  The guidelines are unclear if the article uses another article as a direct source, but adds additional content. The Quartz article does use Wired as a primary source, but it also adds additional content as the Wired article doesn't mention daycare at all. Additionally, the comments on this post pretty much all talk about daycare as it's in the title and a major talking point of the article, rather than just the building itself.
  - dang 9y ago
    Yup those are fair points, making this a borderline call. I'm not sure the article adds much of value—it struck me as a slapdash effort to gin up controversy, especially at the end. That's most of what such publications do all day and our job as a community is to filter most of that out. But people can reasonably differ about any particular case.
    - yladiz 9y ago
      Fair enough, although I do respect Quartz enough to not create controversy for the hell of it. I do agree that the last paragraph is a bit much and possibly unnecessary, and maybe only there to make it seem something more than it is, but I think the article overall brings a good question to think about, considering the magnitude of the building Apple made and the attention to detail they brought to the project.
taylodl 9y ago
Perhaps there's still an opportunity to provide this service - for it presents a really unique business opportunity: * Apple gets to see how its youngest customers, and future purchasers, interact with their products. How are they actually being used? What are the real frustrations? * Apple can provide educational services. Music, art, mathematics, engineering - it can go a long way to making these kids life-long learners. * Bonus points for having a pediatrician on staff. No need to take time off for a sick kid. * After school care with pickup from local schools would be a huge benefit. Imagine your children being picked up from school and brought to an engaging environment where they can learn and play? * Ditto for a summer program. Taking care of daily life issues go a long way to proving peace of mind and allowing one to focus and engage fully while at work. That's why so many companies provide food service, laundry service, workout/health facilities, etc. I'm thinking there's a huge opportunity here.
lostmsu 9y ago
I would certainly appreciate a daycare facility on a campus more than a gym.

30 points by yladiz 9y ago

Daycare to me seems like an enormous liability, and is also widely available already. Personally I would prefer a daycare credit each month that I can spend where I please. I think Apple made the right choice.

aeturnum 9y ago
You're right, but gyms are also an enormous liability and widely available. It's not that either service must be offered by the employer, it's more a rorschach test to see how the company thinks about what services will most enable their workers to be productive. As an employee, I'd certainly take onsite childcare over a gym.
- dismantlethesun 9y ago
  Liabilities against adults are treated differently than liabilities against children.
  - aeturnum 9y ago
    In that case, maybe they can only offer 25,000 sq. feet of childcare space for the cost of 100,000 sq. feet of gym. The choice to not offer it all together still feels meaningful.
protomyth 9y ago
Daycare is not an "enormous liability". It is rather easy to insulate your company by hiring an outside vendor to run the daycare (they will probably do a better job). There are quite a few and they are skilled in safety, safety procedures, and regulations. Apple sends a pretty clear signal as to what they want out of an employee with this campus.
chrisbrandow 9y ago
Giving employees a credit ensures that they will be taking one more trip on their way to and or from work. No solution fits everyone, but an on-site option is so much better for many parents, particularly women with babies that are still nursing. Being able to pop over during lunch hour is also an enormous benefit. I spoken to a couple parents that it had this kind of an arrangement, it was so, so valuable to them. While nothing is ever as simple as it seems, this seems like a major missed opportunity for "employee sat".

emtel 9y ago

There are a lot of places in the valley where it is illegal to build child care facilities, due to environmental hazards. This may not necessarily be an oversight on Apple's part.

Bud 9y ago
Overwhelmingly likely to NOT be an oversight. I worked on Apple Park for a year as the IT guy on-site. I can tell you that every conceivable detail was painstakingly planned. And many inconceivable details, as well.

zyang 9y ago

Apple Park partially sits on a superfund site - not the best place to build a daycare.

wand3r 9y ago

Article notes it is not commonplace for daycare to be included and flips the Apple HQ launch into a personification of Jobs poor parenting of his daughters. They arent exactly wrong; but this is agenda first journalism 101.

JustSomeNobody 9y ago

I don't agree with this article. Rather than a DayCare facility, just be flexible with your employees when they have to run and pick up a sick child. Let them make up the hours by working at home after the child has been taken care of.

dang 9y ago

This article is cribbed from https://www.wired.com/2017/05/apple-park-new-silicon-valley-campus/ https://www.wired.com/2017/05/apple-park-new-silicon-valley-... which is currently being discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14349147 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14349147. Submitters: the HN guidelines ask you to submit original sources. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

yladiz 9y ago
The guidelines are unclear if the article uses another article as a direct source, but adds additional content. The Quartz article does use Wired as a primary source, but it also adds additional content as the Wired article doesn't mention daycare at all. Additionally, the comments on this post pretty much all talk about daycare as it's in the title and a major talking point of the article, rather than just the building itself.
- dang 9y ago
  Yup those are fair points, making this a borderline call. I'm not sure the article adds much of value—it struck me as a slapdash effort to gin up controversy, especially at the end. That's most of what such publications do all day and our job as a community is to filter most of that out. But people can reasonably differ about any particular case.
  - yladiz 9y ago
    Fair enough, although I do respect Quartz enough to not create controversy for the hell of it. I do agree that the last paragraph is a bit much and possibly unnecessary, and maybe only there to make it seem something more than it is, but I think the article overall brings a good question to think about, considering the magnitude of the building Apple made and the attention to detail they brought to the project.

taylodl 9y ago

Perhaps there's still an opportunity to provide this service - for it presents a really unique business opportunity: * Apple gets to see how its youngest customers, and future purchasers, interact with their products. How are they actually being used? What are the real frustrations? * Apple can provide educational services. Music, art, mathematics, engineering - it can go a long way to making these kids life-long learners. * Bonus points for having a pediatrician on staff. No need to take time off for a sick kid. * After school care with pickup from local schools would be a huge benefit. Imagine your children being picked up from school and brought to an engaging environment where they can learn and play? * Ditto for a summer program. Taking care of daily life issues go a long way to proving peace of mind and allowing one to focus and engage fully while at work. That's why so many companies provide food service, laundry service, workout/health facilities, etc. I'm thinking there's a huge opportunity here.

lostmsu 9y ago

I would certainly appreciate a daycare facility on a campus more than a gym.