Apple: Top executive resigned because of return-to-office policy

A top AI executive at Apple has left the company because of its return-to-office policy, according to a report. The news came as Apple ordered all of its company’s employees back to the office three days a weeka stricter policy than its competitors such as Meta, Google and Amazon, which allows at least some employees to work in distance.

Machine learning director Ian Goodfellow announced his resignation last week, telling colleagues that pressure from CEO Tim Cook to get employees back to work office was the reason.

“I strongly believe that more flexibility is the best policy for my team,” Goodfellow wrote in a farewell note, according to Verge reporter Zoe Schiffer.

Several Apple employees have confirmed Goodfellow’s departure from corporate rumor site Blind.

An Apple employee quoted Goodfellow as saying, “I’m leaving for many reasons … but Apple’s back-to-office policy is the biggest reason“.

Apple Policy

Apple employees will certainly return to front -end work on April 11 after two years of distant work due to the covid pandemic. The company agreed to adopt a hybrid model, forcing workers to go to the office at least three days a week. However, this method is not convincing at all. The first to fall was Ian Goodfellow, director of machine learning at Apple.

Apple requires employees to work in person on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Employees can too telecommuting for a maximum of four weeks a year.

An Apple employee thinks Goodfellow’s departure precedes a possible announcement that the company will increase I work personally five days a week.

“Everyone and their grandmother knew that Apple used the pilot as a springboard to get back to work 5 days in the office,” the Apple employee wrote in Blind, verifying the work via corporate email addresses. “Ian probably got the scoop that it will happen and leave.

Apple and Goodfellow did not immediately respond to requests for comment from expert media.

Following Goodfellow’s departure, Apple employees again confronted their employer, with one accusing the iPhone maker of wrongly handling the situation.

“All other companies … including [Google] allows people [trabajar] remotely and post distant posts. The worst is [Apple] does not give a sensible reason“said an employee.

Goodfellow was taken over by Apple from Google in 2019, where he started as a research scientist and had a career for several years. At Apple, he worked as a director in the company’s Special Projects Group, where products like the Apple Car, known as Project Titan, are located.

He is an important piece for Apple’s future because of his involvement in developing artificial intelligence systems. Goodfellow began his career in Cupertino just 3 years ago, when he decided to leave Google to join the “Apple Special Projects Group” as director of machine learning.

In Mountain View, Goodfellow became a senior software engineering research scientist. He is considered the father of Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), neural networks capable of creating their own designs based on a set of real data. This technology can be used to generate fake media content.

Despite his involvement and advancement in Artificial Intelligence systems, just three years after joining Apple, Goodfellow decided to leave the company. Although the official reasons for his departure are not known, Goodfellow indicated that Apple’s policy has changed more. people work from their offices This prompted him to decide. “I strongly believe that more flexibility is the best option for my team,” Goodfellow wrote in a note according to Zoe Schiffer.