Apple has awarded rare retention bonuses to its iPhone hardware designers in an effort to curb a growing wave of departures to AI startups, particularly OpenAI. The bonuses, granted as restricted stock units that vest over four years, are valued at approximately $200,000 to $400,000 per recipient over the full vesting period. Apple’s leadership is increasingly concerned about the poaching of key engineering talent, with OpenAI emerging as a significant threat after hiring former Apple design chief Jony Ive along with several dozen other Apple engineers.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The bonuses were issued as stock units that vest over four years, meaning employees must remain at Apple to receive the full value, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the move wasn’t public. It’s a typical structure for Apple stock-based pay packages.
In many cases, the awards — separate from Apple’s typical bonuses — are worth roughly $200,000 to $400,000 over the full vesting period. The packages could ultimately offer a bigger payoff depending on the company’s stock performance.
Employees see the pay bumps as a direct response to a recent uptick in recruiting from startups. Still, the bonuses are a fraction of what OpenAI and others are offering. In some cases, those companies are paying individual Apple engineers roughly $1 million in stock annually to jump ship.
OpenAI’s hardware division is run in part by Apple veteran Tang Tan. He used to oversee the iPhone product design team that’s receiving the bonuses.
Tan’s group at OpenAI has hired several dozen Apple engineers, and not just ones who worked on the iPhone. The startup has lured employees who helped develop the iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro.
MacDailyNews Take: Back in late 2021/early 2022, Apple paid key engineers multiple rounds of six-figure bonuses to stem defections to rivals.
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