Apple’s chief of machine learning quits over return-to-office policy

One of the top engineers of Apple has reportedly quit due to the company's return to office policy.

Ian Goodfellow plans to leave his role as director of machine learning at Apple, Zoë Schiffer, a reporter with tech news outlet The Verge, tweeted on Saturday.

"I believe strongly that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team," Goodfellow reportedly wrote in a note to staff, reports Fortune.

Apple employees began returning to office on 11 April, after a two-year flexible remote-working arrangement at the company. The company had originally planned to bring employees back to the office in December, but delayed the return in light of last winter's Omicron surge.

Apple's new return-to-work policy is being phased in, with employees required to begin spending at least one day in the office weekly by 11 April, two days by 2 May, and at least three days by 23 May.

By the end of May, all employees will be required to be present in the office Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and most will be able to work remotely on remaining weekdays.

Apple's return-to-work policies were some of the strictest of any major tech company. Google also required that most employees return to their local offices beginning in April, but it is letting some workers continue working remotely indefinitely.

At Microsoft, employees who have been approved by managers can work from home more than 50% of the time. And at Facebook parent company Meta, management is letting employees whose jobs allow them to work from home continue doing so if they choose.

Goodfellow's reported resignation is not the first in response to Apple's return-to-work policies. An employee petition made the rounds last summer that demanded "greater flexibility" from management as the company began evaluating when to demand a return to office.

Many employees voiced their frustrations online in early April as well, as the office requirement date neared, with many threatening to quit because they did not want to "deal with the commute" or "sit around for eight hours a day."

A recent survey of Apple employees, conducted 13 to 19 April, found that 76% were unhappy with the return-to-work plan, and as many as 56% claimed they were considering leaving the company because of the policy.