Would You Work Here? Current Employees Are Saying "No Thanks"

Tech giant, Apple, is in the process of building its new $5-billion-dollar headquarters out in Cupertino, California. Over the next six months, approximately 12,000 Apple employees will be moving into the new headquarters, and many aren’t very happy about it.

Curious what the new headquarters looks like? Some say a space shuttle, but here’s a drone video tour of the new facility created by Matthew Roberts.

The Good Known as Apple Park, the 175-acre state-of-the-art facility has amazing amenities. It’s an innovative energy-efficient facility, running entirely on renewable energy. Multiple departments will be working collaboratively in the environment, from developers and designers to marketing and retail.

There’s a visitors center along with a public Apple Store and café. Plus, employees have access to a 100,000-square foot fitness center, two miles of walking and running paths, underground parking, and a beautiful outdoor nature center equipped with an orchard, meadow and pond.

Sounds like a place many people would love to work on a daily basis, so why are so many Apple employees unhappy about it?

The Bad Employees who have been working in more closed working environments at Apple will have to get used to working in an open office environment instead. Those used to more of a quiet workspace will have to adapt to 18-foot tables (500 of them to be exact) where they could be sitting next to co-workers from other departments even.

John Gruber, Apple-obsessed host of the Daring Fireball podcast show, stated he has received numerous emails from Apple employees unhappy with the new facility. Essentially, some long-standing employees are threatening to quit after the move if they aren’t satisified with the work environment. Remember, we are talking about some employees who have been used to working in their own office the past fifteen plus years.

Even one of Apple’s vice presidents, Johny Srouji, made such a ruckus about moving his team to Apple Park that they decided to build a separate building for them.

What Now? Trying to look at this situation objectively, there’s a couple of things that come to my mind. First and foremost, current employees need to adapt or move on to something else. At the end of the day, they are working for a tech giant that is constantly innovating and disrupting the technology space for the better. As a result, employees should be able to embrace change and adapt to new surroundings and ways of doing things.

Additionally, Apple needs to plan for the fact that they are going to lose employees as a result of the move. This means getting Recruiting on board for putting a plan together to backfill critical positions, and ensuring the HR department is ready with the appropriate plan for exit interviews, severance packages, etc.

Either way, I’m curious to see how this plays out for Apple. It looks like an amazing facility, and I truly believe that the right employees for the company’s future growth will adapt and embrace the changing environment for the better.