Apple staffers suffer work-from-home setbacks due to security guidelines, travel bans
While COVID-19 is impacting virtually every sector of the tech industry, a new report claims that Apple is experiencing some unique setbacks because of its culture of secrecy and lack of access to prototyping tools and test rigs.
Many Apple Park employees have been working from home since early March, before the Bay Area and the state of California implemented shelter-in-place orders.
CEO Tim Cook first began urging employees to work from home whenever possible in early March to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Since then, government stay-at-home orders have mandated that, and Apple has also shuttered all of its retail locations outside of greater China and issued global remote work orders.
Some of the issues that remote Apple employees have faced have been discussed before, including snared network speeds and confusing security guidelines. Now, a recent report from The Information is taking a closer look at some of the difficulties Apple's employees are facing.
Security restrictions and Apple's broader secrecy cultures are causing some of the bigger issues. According to insider sources, most hardware prototyping has been brought to a standstill, since Apple's guidelines require those processes to be done in secure labs. Some staffers have resorted to drawing diagrams in the air, since they've had to leave sensitive components back at the office.
The inability to use in-office equipment has also complicated stress and drop tests, as well as any prototyping process requiring 3D printers or milling machines. Because of the issues, Apple has created new protocols to bring components from future hardware home with them.
Apple is also especially reliant on face-to-face meetings and internal file-sharing and communications software, though The Information reports that the company has been loosening restrictions on third-party platforms like Box, Slack or Cisco's WebEx systems.
Some employees have found it difficult to use Apple's own consumer platforms, like FaceTime or iMessage, because they weren't designed for enterprise uses. And while many staffers just aren't used to video conferencing with other employees, one major struggle is slow internet connections. One source, for example, lives in an apartment with four other people.
Apple has taken steps to make remote work more comfortable, such as issuing ergonomic desk advice and allowing staffers to expense office supplies and furniture.
The Cupertino tech giant's operations in China have similarly suffered. Although Apple's supply chain is normalizing and the country has largely slowed the spread of coronavirus, travel restrictions have forced Apple employees to come up with creative ways to work with its partners.
Part of the response includes an increased number of back-and-forth communications, including photos, with Chinese assembly partners. Some Apple staffers worry that this could lead to product leaks, however, and delays in responses can also derail critical fixes of hardware or supply line issues.
Many of Apple's supply partners are used to playing a supporting role, and U.S.-based employees communicating with them remotely have had to rely on low-resolution or grainy photos to issue instructions. Even the picture-taking process has a set of security guidelines, with tight restrictions on who can handle cameras and which computers are used to upload them.
Some employees also told The Information that they hope Apple will continue to allow flexible and remote work options after COVID-19. Even prior to the outbreak, some staffers have been "clamoring" for just that.
But while the coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly been a roadblock for Apple, one executive at an Apple supplier said the Cupertino tech giant isn't showing any signs of slowing down. Apple has continued to place a steady stream of orders, echoing previous reports suggesting that the pace of production hasn't become sluggish.
Apple now expects to reopen at least some retail locations in the first half of April, according to an internal memo. Chief of retail and people Deirdre O'Brien also added that the company would be re-evaluating current work-from-home policies on a weekly basis after April 5, depending on a staffer's location. It isn't clear how the new federal guidelines on social distancing until the end of April will apply to Apple's plans.
Many Apple Park employees have been working from home since early March, before the Bay Area and the state of California implemented shelter-in-place orders.
CEO Tim Cook first began urging employees to work from home whenever possible in early March to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Since then, government stay-at-home orders have mandated that, and Apple has also shuttered all of its retail locations outside of greater China and issued global remote work orders.
Some of the issues that remote Apple employees have faced have been discussed before, including snared network speeds and confusing security guidelines. Now, a recent report from The Information is taking a closer look at some of the difficulties Apple's employees are facing.
Security restrictions and Apple's broader secrecy cultures are causing some of the bigger issues. According to insider sources, most hardware prototyping has been brought to a standstill, since Apple's guidelines require those processes to be done in secure labs. Some staffers have resorted to drawing diagrams in the air, since they've had to leave sensitive components back at the office.
The inability to use in-office equipment has also complicated stress and drop tests, as well as any prototyping process requiring 3D printers or milling machines. Because of the issues, Apple has created new protocols to bring components from future hardware home with them.
Apple is also especially reliant on face-to-face meetings and internal file-sharing and communications software, though The Information reports that the company has been loosening restrictions on third-party platforms like Box, Slack or Cisco's WebEx systems.
Some employees have found it difficult to use Apple's own consumer platforms, like FaceTime or iMessage, because they weren't designed for enterprise uses. And while many staffers just aren't used to video conferencing with other employees, one major struggle is slow internet connections. One source, for example, lives in an apartment with four other people.
Apple has taken steps to make remote work more comfortable, such as issuing ergonomic desk advice and allowing staffers to expense office supplies and furniture.
The Cupertino tech giant's operations in China have similarly suffered. Although Apple's supply chain is normalizing and the country has largely slowed the spread of coronavirus, travel restrictions have forced Apple employees to come up with creative ways to work with its partners.
Part of the response includes an increased number of back-and-forth communications, including photos, with Chinese assembly partners. Some Apple staffers worry that this could lead to product leaks, however, and delays in responses can also derail critical fixes of hardware or supply line issues.
Many of Apple's supply partners are used to playing a supporting role, and U.S.-based employees communicating with them remotely have had to rely on low-resolution or grainy photos to issue instructions. Even the picture-taking process has a set of security guidelines, with tight restrictions on who can handle cameras and which computers are used to upload them.
Some employees also told The Information that they hope Apple will continue to allow flexible and remote work options after COVID-19. Even prior to the outbreak, some staffers have been "clamoring" for just that.
But while the coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly been a roadblock for Apple, one executive at an Apple supplier said the Cupertino tech giant isn't showing any signs of slowing down. Apple has continued to place a steady stream of orders, echoing previous reports suggesting that the pace of production hasn't become sluggish.
Apple now expects to reopen at least some retail locations in the first half of April, according to an internal memo. Chief of retail and people Deirdre O'Brien also added that the company would be re-evaluating current work-from-home policies on a weekly basis after April 5, depending on a staffer's location. It isn't clear how the new federal guidelines on social distancing until the end of April will apply to Apple's plans.
Comments
Let's hope Apple catches the opportunity to turn FaceTime and iMessage from toys into real applications.
And here I was thinking that only small animals could be snared...
AI: - Please bring back the "thumbs down" function.
The current situation has meant changes for how most people work across many industries. Deal with it.
Complaining about a slow internet connection and one "source" shares their connection with 4 others?
They work for Apple, can't they afford their own connection? They should get their own connection instead of whining about it. They should have multiple internet connections, home cable, fiber, LTE.
This really just sounds like a bunch of whining in the article. This is only a temporary situation, deal with it, get the job done, don't anonymously whine and run to the media because certain people can't handle a temporary challenge.
Fact is, Apple have largely forgotten there is something called Enterprise or even small business out there, and excluded them from their testing and use cases. Unless it fits precisely in their shrinking and increasingly locked down ecosystem, shut it or cut it out.
* (SMS forwarding to other Apple devices would be over iMessage so I wouldn't could that.
2) It's foolish to claim that "Apple have largely forgotten there is something called Enterprise" when they're (usually) the world's most valuable company making a 1/4 trillion dollars a year and employing 137,000 people. I don't see how any of that is possible without using enterprise-level applications for their day-to-day business. If you honestly believe that Apple's data centers are just Mac minis or Mac pros you should google their data center efforts. They also rent virtual space from various vendors, like AWS and Azure.
Or, perhaps you didn't actually mean that "Apple have largely forgotten there is something called Enterprise" and actually meant that you're upset that Apple focuses on designing products for the consumer market, not for the enterprise market. You have every right to be upset by that, but you might as well get upset with Ruth Chris's Steak House for not having a low-cost fast-food option with a drive-thru or with any number of businesses for choosing to focus their efforts on a particular business model.
Bunch of whiners now if you ask me.
2) Special interest? How the fuck can Apple, a CE company, make so many of the same device and you call them "special interest"? What is "special interest" is designing countless devices quickly to try to reach every possible market possibility. Dell will happily sell you a device.
3) As for overpriced, that's a personal thing, but you can't reasonably claim a product is overpriced when they produce enough of them many months after its launch. The iPhone is overpriced and they're crazy for selling a $1000 iPhone which no one will ever buy, but then it's sold out for months after launch. Of course, then other vendors follow suit with even pricer items.
You get so upset about the dumbest things. Who cares what people call it? That’s what it was for a long time and how people learned to say it. Get over yourself before you give yourself a heart attack.