Ian Goodfellow, Apple's Director of ML leaves Apple due to return-to-work policy | Hacker News Reader

Ian Goodfellow, Apple's Director of ML leaves Apple due to return-to-work policy

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127 pointsrg11110 comments

There is a weird dichotomy here. Would he protest in the same way if he wasn't famous and literally have opportunities knocking on his door on a daily basis, or he wasn't in a financial position to do this? If either of those things are true, then he is not truly protesting. Just exercising the power of his position while double-dipping into ostensible righteousness. Can't really take him seriously.

Where are you seeing that this is some kind of "protest" or display or righteousness? Could it not be that he just left the company because he personally enjoys working from home?

I think the fact that he sent out a note to staff gives that impression.

I don't think that's as unprecedented as you think it is.

That's good. It makes his leave more expensive for Apple. Which, again, is good.

It’s clear from the content of the message that he wants more flexibility personally _and _that he wants to set an public example. I don’t see why this is a problem. There is nothing inherently wrong with doing good things and being seen to do good things.

Being a powerful employee is the exact thing that make his protest noticeable and able to better the lives of the rest of us a little bit. Anyway, isn't there at-will employment in the US? Apple, if you don't like it, just hire another person?

You don’t hear about people who aren’t famous doing this because they don’t have a microphone — no one pays attention to them when they leave. That’s kind of the entire point of someone with a very high profile doing this — the rest of us wouldn’t have the same external impact because no one has heard of us.

Some people who sympathize with his position at Apple are far more senior than he is, would have far greater internal impact if they left, and you’ve never heard of them and wouldn’t see press about them leaving. ML happens to be the one place at Apple where public profiles outside the executive suite are encouraged.

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