Competition for highly skilled engineers and programmers is fierce in Silicon Valley, and Apple’s answer is big bonuses for employees it really wants to hold on to. It reportedly rewarded some workers with up to $180,000 in company stock.
These were apparently unscheduled and not part of usual compensation packages.
Apple: You get a bonus, and you get a bonus… but not you
Bloomberg reports:
“Last week, the company informed some engineers in silicon design, hardware, and select software and operations groups of the out-of-cycle bonuses, which are being issued as restricted stock units, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The shares vest over four years, providing an incentive to stay at the iPhone maker.”
The bonuses supposedly ranged in value from $50,000 to $180, 000.
But the move also irked employees who didn’t get one of the unscheduled payouts.
Companies work to hold onto talent
Silicon Valley companies competing with rivals for talented employees is nothing new. Apple regularly poaches — it recently lured away Meta’s AR communications chief, for example. And it’s trying to hire skilled chip designers away from other companies.
But the COVID-19 epidemic added new wrinkles. Some workers aren’t pleased with Apple’s efforts to get corporate employees back in offices as soon as is practical. But the omicron variant forced CEO Tim Cook indefinitely postpone the date they’ll be required to return. How this will affect retention and hiring is unknown.
