Apple Aims To Prevent Defections To Meta With Rare $180,000 Bonuses for Top Talent (bloomberg.com) 44
Apple has issued unusual and significant stock bonuses to some engineers in an effort to retain talent, looking to stave off defections to tech rivals such as Facebook owner Meta Platforms. From a report: 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, which came as a surprise to those who received them, have ranged from about $50,000 to as much as $180,000 in some cases. Many of the engineers received amounts of roughly $80,000, $100,000 or $120,000 in shares, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the program isn't public. The perk was presented by managers as a reward for high performers.
Suddenly. (Score:2)
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None of those people are sitting around shitposting on slashdot.
The work environment must really suck then (Score:3)
No other credible explanation.
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Well, yes. But why would they specifically want Apple engineers?
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Retaining employees with free money doesn't imply a significant desire to retain employees. The fed has been pumping trillions of dollars into the economy, creating misallocation of capital. One of the largest benefactors is big tech. With all this money sloshing around the financial system, once in a while they have to make an attempt spend it on something productive rather than stock buybacks. I don't know how productive giant bonuses are, but it's the best they could come up with. My guess is the real RO
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Well, yes. But why would they specifically want Apple engineers?
If I was a consumer oriented company with an office near Apple looking for software and hardware people, yeah, maybe I would specifically want Apple engineers. Apple seems to churn out some products that consumers like. I guess I could go next door and try to hire a guy making accounting software for a living, but that seems a bit off.
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The problem is that Apple people work in and design for a walled garden. That may well make them a liability in a different environment. Of course, the ones trying to hire them may not understand that and the ones willing to leave Apple may not understand that either.
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You are a socialist. Why do you care? You should be in the fields anyway with your comrades, right?
I am not a socialist by any of the current definitions. But I suspect you do not know them anyways.
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No other credible explanation.
That's because it's a cult without a messiah any more. So people with talent are realising that they can work elsewhere without having to prostrate for the company.
Apple = cash machine. (Score:1)
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Or Microsoft in the 80s.
Or Tesla in the early 2000s.
Or even crapbook.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
They have to (Score:5, Insightful)
I imagine it does kind of suck to work at Apple as a developer.
Mostly because Apple has this weird philosophy of not giving users what they want, ever. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be as a developer?
People rag on Microsoft, and they make some stupid decisions, but they generally respond to user complaints. Bad ideas don't last too long in Microsoft software, for the most part. Apple just...doesn't care.
Re: They have to (Score:2)
I could deal with a lot of "frustration" for a couple hundred thou per year.
Hell, I'm doing it for a lot less than that already.
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Bad ideas don't last too long in Microsoft software, for the most part
Putting the words "Microsoft" and "Software" together is a bad idea all on its own.
Re: They have to (Score:2)
Mostly because Apple has this weird philosophy of not giving users what they want, ever. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be as a developer?
I'm sure it's very frustrating not having to listen to users and then somehow completely accidentally making stuff they are willing to pay lots of money for, because "marketing" or some other vague hand wavy thing that the developers have no responsibility for but they must feel real bad for their buds in marketing doing all the real work while they get paid big bucks and stock based retention incentives to not make software customers want, I bet they feel real guilty, and then the money, talk about frustra
I almost wish (Score:2)
I almost wish I worked for Apple so I could start browsing the Meta job ads from my work PC and spend some time polishing my resume...
"Why yes, I would stay here for $100K. Or even $50K. Maybe even for 10 or 20K..."
In reality I'd never willingly work for either of them unless I had no other options. And I mean NO other options, none, zero, zip, nada, nicht.
Re: I almost wish (Score:2)
If you had no other options, they wouldn't be an option for you either.
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If you had no other options, they wouldn't be an option for you either.
By the time I have no options the world will be in flames and ruins.
My skills are in demand, always have been and always will be unless the written word is no longer used.
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To all our great detriment, I suspect your skills will go out of demand long before we're in flame and ruin.
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It becomes harder every fucking day to find documentation that isn't in video format.
I also hate video 'documentation'. Sometimes it's appropriate but most of the time it's a pointless bullshit way to convey information.
I hate spending 15 minutes searching though a video for something when I could have found and read the information I needed in a minute or two. It's annoying, inefficient, and utterly disrespectful of the user's time.
To all our great detriment, I suspect your skills will go out of demand long before we're in flame and ruin.
Maybe we'll end in flame and ruin because no one read the manual.
There's a reason that pilots and surgeons have hard copy text within arms reach. Some things ar
Nice way to use the RSU! (Score:2)
I'm used to seeing these RSU's distributed at the time of hire, as a way to get the hooks into new employees so they're forced to stay with the company a certain amount of time or else not really receive the compensation promised initially.
I don't see anything at all wrong with Apple doing this as a way to reward high performers if they stick around a while longer? I think more companies should consider making this a regular policy, if anything.
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It's pretty standard at top US tech companies to get a yearly RSU refresher; $50-$150k is not uncommon for an experienced SWE. Typical RSU grants vest over 4 years.
Apple is out of touch (Score:5, Informative)
Has Apple actually researched what FB/Meta pays top talent? At E6 level you're talking $350k of stock refreshes PER YEAR. These $180k offerings vested over 4 years are not going to retain top talent, they will just be bargaining chips when talent moves to another company.
The compensation at top tech firms is really just insane, I really can't fathom making that kind of money...
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Apple to prevent Defecation to keep up with Meta (Score:3)
Apple to prevent Defecation to keep up with Meta? Wow I thought overtime was bad but this is like Amazon tactics?
Re: Apple to prevent Defecation to keep up with Me (Score:3)
This is a shit argument.
There is no evidence at all that Apple is trying to prevent defecation.
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That wouldn't help them keep up with Meta -- Meta promotes regularity with their Metamucil product.
"Meta" is short for "Metastasize" (Score:3)
That wouldn't help them keep up with Meta -- Meta promotes regularity with their Metamucil product.
That's where you're wrong - "Meta" is short of "Metastasize", which is an apt description of Zuck/FB.
No good (Score:2)
Sorry, but I'll only accept meta-money paid into my meta-account
Rebranding Works! (Score:2)
Engineers now don't mind so much to work at "Meta", where they would've been embarrassed to say they're working at Facebook :D
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Engineers now don't mind so much to work at "Meta", where they would've been embarrassed to say they're working at Facebook :D
Until you realize that "Meta" is short for "Metastasize".
Bonus vs. Bone-Us. (Score:2)
I guess "rare" when speaking of $180,000 (that is a dollar sign, right?) "bonuses", means it's rare for a company to actually pay that out the claimed monetary value in cash money rather than some contractual version of servitude until "restricted stock units" (hopefully) mature in the right direction to actually call it something of value.
Now we know why prostitutes take cash only. They know what it's like to get screwed later.
Next up: Jobs with "could be worth as much as" salary listings. Have fun with
Now what? (Score:1)
So they kept the top talent.
Uh, what have they done in the past 10 years again? Oh yea, enjoying free meals, goofing off, sending e-mail, going to meetings.
Work? Not so much.
Apple - a company way over-valued.
Artists - Apple - Great if you like crap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]