Ian Goodfellow (Apple's Director for Machine Learning) had earlier informed his staff via email about his resignation.
As he blamed Apple for insisting on employees returning to work at the office for being the prime reason for his resignation.
The News:
How would you react if you were employed by a company similar to Apple and earning more than $1 million annually and were required to return to the office to do work? If you choose to quit and leave Apple, you'll be in great business with Ian Goodfellow, a senior Apple engineer who has quit his highly-publicized and well-paid position at Apple. Although it's not clear precisely how much Goodfellow earns at Apple, his previous earnings suggest that it could easily be more than $1 million.
It's an estimation that is based on a conservative assumption. Also, by quitting his position with Apple, Goodfellow is saying goodbye to an annual salary of 6 crores to around 8 crores per year.
To remind us why we're discussing Ian Goodfellow here is the current story. Goodfellow, who serves as the machine learning director at Apple, is leaving because Apple would like his team and him to return to work from their office.
Apple has informed its employees that after letting employees work from home because of the COVID pandemic, the company is transitioning to a hybrid model that requires workers to be in an office at least 3 days per week beginning on May 23.
Goodfellow isn't thrilled with the decision since he believes the flexibility of a flexible work schedule that includes working from home and reading at work is more efficient. Therefore, he has decided to leave the company. In an email to his staff and the team, he clarified the reasons for his decision.
After the reports of Goodfellow being forced out of Apple because of the hybrid model of work are out, speculation about his pay is roiling.
Although it's not known the amount Apple pays Goodfellow, his pay is certainly very expensive. People like Goodfellow, known as an authority on AI as well as machine learning, are highly sought-after. He has also been employed at companies such as Google and OpenAI that offer top salaries for top talent.
It's thanks to the assistance from Open AI that we know some details about the Goodfellow salary.
According to a New York Times report, Goodfellow earned at least $800,000 per year while working for Tesla's machine-learning company, Open AI, as a research scientist for about an entire year. This was in 2016. Open AI paid him $800,000 that year, even though it was only in March.
It could be that his annual salary was greater. When converted to Indian dollars, that amounts to roughly six crore rupees.
However, as mentioned, it was 2016. In the year following Open AI, Goodfellow went (back) to Google. Then, in the year 2019, he quit Google for Apple. Since 2016, the company has seen two leaps with Apple, and given how highly sought-after most top AI scientists are, it's possible to say that they aren't making more than $1 million at Apple.
Even if we assume his salary hasn't increased from 2016 to 2017, we could claim that Goodfellow will be leaving at the very least a minimum of Rs 6 crore per year in the process of leaving Apple.
The Verge says that Goodfellow, in an email sent to his employees, stated that he would have preferred "more flexibility for his team." In a letter to his team members, he wrote, "I strongly believe that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team."
Apple's new policy on work stipulated that employees work from home a minimum of 1 day per week until April 11, at least 2 days per week after May 2, and a minimum of 3 days per week until May 23. Beginning May 23, Apple has also asked staff to be back in their offices at least three times a week. But some employees aren't pleased with the company's decision.
