Apple gives big bonuses to employees who want to switch to Meta

In order not to switch to Meta, the Facebook umbrella corporation, Apple gives employees large bonuses ranging from $50,000 to $180,000 in stock.

Apple: Employee retention through bonuses

The Meta Group in particular is apparently very interested in poaching high-ranking employees from Apple. To counteract this, the Cupertino-based company wants to retain its staff in the long term with high stock bonuses.

As business service Bloomberg reports, Apple has issued “unusual and significant stock bonuses.” The awards range from $50,000 to as much as $180,000, according to the report.

They are issued as so-called restricted stock units. One of the few ways an employer can grant company stock to its employees. Restricted awards take effect because they are subject to the vesting schedule. It is based on length of service or performance goals achieved. Until now, such a bonus payment has not been common at Apple, the report continues.

Meta alone is said to have poached 100 developers and engineers from Apple in recent months, Bloomberg reports. Mainly from the areas of augmented reality, artificial intelligence and software and hardware development. Apple’s car project Project Titan is also increasingly running away engineers.

Not all employees receive shares

However, only ten to 20 percent of developers in the departments particularly affected by poaching attempts received corresponding file bonuses, which leads to resentment internally at Apple.

All those who are not allowed to enjoy a bonus criticize what they see as an arbitrary selection process. Apple is currently struggling with widespread personnel problems, aided by the switch to home offices.

For example, the company’s management decided to introduce hybrid working, which requires employees to be present in the office three days a week. This also caused resentment among the workforce, who had spoken out against hybrid working through surveys and open letters. So there is a lot of internal bubbling at Apple at the moment.