Apple's new $5 billion Apple Park campus has everything an Apple employee could wish for, unless they have children in which case: tough. The one thing missing from the brand new Apple mothership, other than a waterslide, is on-site childcare.
Apple built a ma$$ive campus for 12k people with *no childcare center*. But there;s 100k foot gym and uh this https://t.co/kDFZwEMTgc pic.twitter.com/SrxUqFjKtX
— Ryan Tate (@ryantate) May 16, 2017
We've been excited about Apple's new "spaceship doughnut" campus for awhile now (read our previous coverage here and also here) because it's been built up (!) as quite possibly the coolest place to work ever. The open-for-business, four-story, 2.8 million-square-foot "Apple Campus 2" was designed by famed architect Norman Foster and was one of Steve Jobs's last projects before the Apple co-founder passed away in 2011.
The ultra-modern workplace features three restaurants, several fitness centers, a 120,000-square-foot corporate auditorium, a two-story yoga room, on-site medical and dental services, and over 100 acres of landscaped green space, including the giant and gorgeous courtyard in the center of the doughnut-shaped building.
But oops, they forgot to build a daycare.
Apple’s new $5 billion campus has a 100,000-square-foot gym, but no daycare. No wonder #Apple struggles to attract & retain women. Lame move
— Lida (@lidatohidi) May 17, 2017
Quartz's Mike Murphy describes the oversight as a "missed opportunity, given Apple’s prominence as an employer, to redefine the relationship between work and home life."
Murphy mentions clothing and adventure gear company Patagonia, which retained 100% of its mom employees after providing free on-site childcare. The national retention average is below 80%.
This Wired article harkens back to Jobs's last appearance before his death, speaking to the Cupertino City Council in which he expressed his intention to build "the best office building in the world."
Huge gym but no day care. Apple campus gets it wrong. https://t.co/qcSiAxyfeV
— Mitch Kapor (@mkapor) May 17, 2017
CNet, meanwhile, has a round-up of tweets from tech folks calling out Apple for forgetting something so basic. "Huge gym but no day care. Apple campus gets it wrong," tweeted tech executive Mitch Kapor referencing the campus' 100,000-square-foot wellness center.
While the team at Apple Park forgot to add a daycare to the plans, it's not like it's too late or they're out of money. While most companies don't provide free kid-care, Apple is, well Apple. If they can figure out a way to make our phones start falling apart every time they release a new iPhone, I'm pretty sure they can figure out a way to add a couple of playgrounds and iNannies to their Cupertino spaceship center.
Related: Video: Drone Check-In On Construction Of Apple's 'Spaceship Doughnut' Campus