Not all Apple employees happy with new $5bn ‘spaceship’

Apple employees are already moving into Apple Park, the company's new $5 billion headquarters in Cupertino, California. Construction of the 'spaceship', as it is called for its flying saucer-like design, is expected to be completed this year, with 12,000 employees moving in over the next few months.

But not all of them are happy, with some even threatening to quit - because of the open space floor plan, which would leave them with little or no privacy.

The 175-acre campus is to be a state-of-the-art facility, boasting the latest in energy efficiencies, green technologies, a 100,000 sq ft fitness centre, an orchard, a meadow and a pond.

Entryways have been designed so engineers don't need to slow down while walking, and the campus has custom-designed banisters, tables, and even a four-story glass door.

But some of the rank-and-file employees aren't as excited as you'd think they'd be.

Until now they've been used to having their own office space, or at least a cubicle. But with the new Apple Park, programmers, engineers, developers and other employees will be rubbing elbows with each other over long tables that they'll be sharing in the company's new open space environment.

Jon Gruber, a podcaster and blogger who follows the company, is reported to have received emails from employees who threatened to leave the company if the workplaces aren't suitable. "Judging from the private feedback I've gotten from some Apple employees, I'm 100 per cent certain there's going to be some degree of attrition based on the open floor plans," he said in this Macrumors report.

Open office designs have become popular with many companies over the past few years. But they've also been controversial. Executives believe that an environment without cubicles fosters collaboration, innovation and creativity. Research has backed up some of these claims. But many workers aren't so crazy about the lack of privacy - and that guy who noisily eats his lunch just a few feet away.

Gruber claims that one vice-president made the company build his "very successful" group their own building because he was dissatisfied with the open floor plan.

And there will be plenty of Apple employees who don't end up in the spaceship, which will hold 13,000 employees. Apple has about 25,000 employees in Silicon Valley, according to an estimate recently cited by the city of Cupertino.

Business Insider reports that the company's cloud services team have claimed its former headquarters for their own workspace, voicing concerns that "Apple employees used to privacy and a quiet work environment might be upset by the open floor plans".

According to Gallup's 2017 State of the American Workplace report, about 70 per cent of US offices utilize an "open" environment, Apple is certainly not doing something offbeat. But while such a floor plan may be ideal for, say, a newspaper where frequent interaction is necessary, it is questionable whether it suits all businesses.