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Daring Fireball's John Gruber had a rather scathing take on this a few weeks ago... https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/06/04/apple-remote-work https://dari

by jw1224 5y ago

Daring Fireball's John Gruber had a rather scathing take on this a few weeks ago... https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/06/04/apple-remote-work https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/06/04/apple-remote-wo...

gear54rus 5y ago
"Companies arent democracies" but they behave exactly like them in this case. If everyone refused to work from office tomorrow, that tim cook guy would bend in an instant. And they should refuse.
- whydoineedone 5y ago
  says you; I prefer working in-office, in-person. The energy is 100x better, I can form real relationships with my co-workers instead of online bullshit relationships with zoom and goofy backgrounds. Partially remote teams are the absolute worst. I avoid remote positions like the plague.
- duxup 5y ago
  "If everyone refused" One of the things about this is that ... I don't trust my fellow employees much more than the CEO to make good choices. The typical firebrand employees I've worked with, I want nothing to do with as far as their overall initiatives go. I might agree with them on one thing but not what to do about it and etc.
- ggreer 5y ago
  First, not everyone wants to work remotely. Some people live in situations where there are too many distractions or annoyances at home. This is especially true if they have children. Second, For those who want to work remotely, this is a coordination problem. Nobody wants to be the first to give such an ultimatum to their manager, as they'd almost certainly be fired. Even if employees could all coordinate through some back channel, the reward for defecting is quite high. If half of your coworkers quit, you are suddenly a much more valuable member of the team. Anyone who stuck around would receive very high compensation.
  - xtracto 5y ago
    > Some people live in situations where there are too many distractions or annoyances at home. This is especially true if they have children. I would prefer to rent a WeWork like space for myself in my own town (about $200 USD a month) if I needed a "distraction free work place" rather than moving all the way to California to spend 50% of my paycheck in cost-of-living.
    - dkonofalski 5y ago
      Well then it's a good thing it's not aimed at you. This is aimed at people that were already working on-site before the pandemic. If anything, it sounds like Apple is realizing that there is benefit to being able to work from home while also realizing that their entire history is based on people collaborating in-person. If you were worth it to them, you'd get one of those exemptions mentioned in the article.
- gherkinnn 5y ago
  "if everyone refused" is not how democracies work. "If everyone refused", that rocket man guy would bend in an instant. What an absurd idea.
- the_reformation 5y ago
  Monarchies have to respond to the threat of populist uprisings, but they're still monarchies.
MaysonL 5y ago
And a number of people have had rather scathing takes on Gruber's take. See Charlie Warzel's Substack for example: https://warzel.substack.com/p/this-is-the-awful-voice-inside-my https://warzel.substack.com/p/this-is-the-awful-voice-inside...
- smoldesu 5y ago
  I found Warzel's response to be incredibly childish, but to each their own I suppose.
  - Apocryphon 5y ago
    Warzel's not the one who used vulgar emojis in his op-ed.
  - ragazzina 5y ago
    In which way it is childish?
jdgoesmarching 5y ago
A man who has worked from home for over two decades because of these employees criticizing them for asking for the same. Gruber has been increasingly out of touch with anyone besides Apple’s marketing department lately and his stubbornness that week was the last straw for me. Jason Snell has far more interesting and insightful takes these days anyway.

by jw1224 5y ago

gear54rus 5y ago

"Companies arent democracies" but they behave exactly like them in this case. If everyone refused to work from office tomorrow, that tim cook guy would bend in an instant. And they should refuse.

whydoineedone 5y ago
says you; I prefer working in-office, in-person. The energy is 100x better, I can form real relationships with my co-workers instead of online bullshit relationships with zoom and goofy backgrounds. Partially remote teams are the absolute worst. I avoid remote positions like the plague.
duxup 5y ago
"If everyone refused" One of the things about this is that ... I don't trust my fellow employees much more than the CEO to make good choices. The typical firebrand employees I've worked with, I want nothing to do with as far as their overall initiatives go. I might agree with them on one thing but not what to do about it and etc.
ggreer 5y ago
First, not everyone wants to work remotely. Some people live in situations where there are too many distractions or annoyances at home. This is especially true if they have children. Second, For those who want to work remotely, this is a coordination problem. Nobody wants to be the first to give such an ultimatum to their manager, as they'd almost certainly be fired. Even if employees could all coordinate through some back channel, the reward for defecting is quite high. If half of your coworkers quit, you are suddenly a much more valuable member of the team. Anyone who stuck around would receive very high compensation.
- xtracto 5y ago
  > Some people live in situations where there are too many distractions or annoyances at home. This is especially true if they have children. I would prefer to rent a WeWork like space for myself in my own town (about $200 USD a month) if I needed a "distraction free work place" rather than moving all the way to California to spend 50% of my paycheck in cost-of-living.
  - dkonofalski 5y ago
    Well then it's a good thing it's not aimed at you. This is aimed at people that were already working on-site before the pandemic. If anything, it sounds like Apple is realizing that there is benefit to being able to work from home while also realizing that their entire history is based on people collaborating in-person. If you were worth it to them, you'd get one of those exemptions mentioned in the article.
gherkinnn 5y ago
"if everyone refused" is not how democracies work. "If everyone refused", that rocket man guy would bend in an instant. What an absurd idea.
the_reformation 5y ago
Monarchies have to respond to the threat of populist uprisings, but they're still monarchies.

MaysonL 5y ago

And a number of people have had rather scathing takes on Gruber's take. See Charlie Warzel's Substack for example: https://warzel.substack.com/p/this-is-the-awful-voice-inside-my https://warzel.substack.com/p/this-is-the-awful-voice-inside...

smoldesu 5y ago
I found Warzel's response to be incredibly childish, but to each their own I suppose.
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  Warzel's not the one who used vulgar emojis in his op-ed.
- ragazzina 5y ago
  In which way it is childish?

jdgoesmarching 5y ago

A man who has worked from home for over two decades because of these employees criticizing them for asking for the same. Gruber has been increasingly out of touch with anyone besides Apple’s marketing department lately and his stubbornness that week was the last straw for me. Jason Snell has far more interesting and insightful takes these days anyway.