It appears that Apple employees weren’t exaggerating when they threatened to quit over the company’s new policies that mandated workers return to in-office work. Ian Goodfellow, a high-ranking member who happens to serve as Apple’s Director of Machine Learning, has opted to resign from the company instead of having to come back into the office, according to a tweet shared by one of The Verge’s reporters today. Goodfellow had previously worked as a senior staff research research scientist for Google but was scooped up by Apple in 2019 to fill out its Special Projects Group.
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
Apple employees began returning to Apple Park last month, with the three-day in-office work policy being enacted on May 23. Some employees have been unhappy about the plan to return to in-person work.
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook during the summer, a group of employees said “Without the inclusivity that flexibility brings, many of us feel we have to choose between either a combination of our families, our well-being, and being empowered to do our best work, or being a part of Apple. This is a decision none of us take lightly, and a decision many would prefer not to have to make.”
Source: Zoë Schiffer (via MacRumors)