An executive from tech giant Apple has allegedly left the company after the company mandated that workers return to the office three days a week. In a note to staff, Ian Goodfellow, Apple’s Director of Machine Learning, reportedly said, “I believe strongly that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team.”
According to Bloomberg, Apple was set to amend its return-to-office policy by requiring all employees to be physically present thrice a week starting 23 May on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, this move has been suspended indefinitely as the company battles a spike in COVID-19 infections.
As the number of cases continues to rise, Apple began requiring employees to wear face masks in all common areas and has retained its return-to-office policy that was implemented on 4 May—requiring employees to be on-site twice a week.
The alleged walkout by Goodfellow echoes employee sentiments that many are not ready to return to the office and are willing to walk away from their employer if mandated to do so. It is important for HR to keep their people well-informed of the company’s decisions, keep two-way dialogue open and actively take onboard employee sentiments about returning to the office.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
