Apple AI head quits over return to office policy
Apple’s AI lead is heading for pastures new
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Apple’s director of machine learning has left the company after just over three years after reportedly clashing with the tech giant over its return to the office policy.
Ian Goodfellow is a noted computer scientist, with his specialities including artificial neural networks and deep learning. The Stanford-educated academic has previously worked as a research scientist atGoogleBrain and has contributed to numerous widely published university textbooks.
But he has now decided to leave the company following a disagreement with Apple’s decision to return employees to the office.
Why the exit?
The tech giant’shybrid workingpolicy means that its staff currently need to make at least two visits to the office every week, which will ramp-up to three days a week by May 23.
Goodfellow has yet to update his LinkedIn profile, but the drive to get Apple employees back in the office to boostproductivityhas met with significant backlash since it was first announced by chief executiveTim Cookin March.
Apple worker collective, Apple Together, took a particularly dim view of the move, noting in a statement: “You have characterized the decision for the Hybrid Working Pilot as being about combining the ‘need to commune in-person’ and the value of flexible work.”
“But in reality, it does not recognize flexible work and is only driven by fear.
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They added: “Fear of the future of work, fear of worker autonomy, fear of losing control.”
Most workers will look elsewhere if hybrid working isn’t on the table
Apple’s next big thing could be locking reckless drivers out of their cars>Apple employees rise up against return to office orders
It seems that Apple’s employees aren’t the only ones who are less than keen about being forced back into the office.
The rising cost of fuel has caused many workers to reconsider commuting to the office in favour of working from home, according to research from software vendor Citrix.
Nearly half (45%) of UK workers plan to stay parked at home to avoid the high costs of commuting.
Close to half of their counterparts around the world say they will do the same according to the research.
“I believe strongly that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team,” said Goodfellow in an internal email seen byThe Verge.
ViaMacRumors
Will McCurdy has been writing about technology for over five years. He has a wide range of specialities including cybersecurity, fintech, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, cloud computing, payments, artificial intelligence, retail technology, and venture capital investment. He has previously written for AltFi, FStech, Retail Systems, and National Technology News and is an experienced podcast and webinar host, as well as an avid long-form feature writer.
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