Apple spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to convince iPhone design team to stay

It appears that Apple is getting concerned about more of its employees leaving for other companies like OpenAI or Meta. To decrease the chances of that happening, the company has reportedly handed out out-of-cycle bonuses to the iPhone Product Design team worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Apple hands out unexpected bonuses

According to a new report (subscription required), Apple recently handed out unexpected bonuses to many members of the iPhone Product Design team. Some of these members got bonuses worth up to $400,000, while others got around $200,000 instead.

However, these bonuses have been awarded as stock units that vest over four years. In simple terms, team members who have gotten these bonuses will need to stick around at Apple for four years to get the full value. Of course, as Apple’s stock price goes up, these bonuses will become more profitable than they appear now.

It’s quite apparent why Apple has chosen this method to hand out bonuses or why it has even done so in the first place. The company does not want these employees being poached by AI companies like OpenAI or other companies that have recently been hiring for their emerging AI departments, like Meta.

OpenAI and Meta’s poaching spree

Since last year, Apple has lost many of its high-profile employees working in very important departments on critical services and products to OpenAI, Meta, and other companies. Said companies have been on a brutal poaching spree as they rapidly expand their operations in the emerging AI markets.

A lot of Apple’s research has allegedly taken a hit from all of the unexpected departures. One of the people who left Apple recently was someone who the company had pushed into the public eye as the narrator for the reveal of the iPhone Air.

The problem has gotten very bad for Apple, so it’s no wonder that the company had to resort to massive out-of-cycle bonuses. However, this move might not be enough.

It’s not the millions being offered

OpenAI, Meta, and other AI companies often offer salaries ranging in the millions. Apple’s bonuses, though undoubtedly a welcome move, are simply not enough.

If these team members stay with the company, it will be because they truly love the work that they are doing over there. They might also stay for the work culture or because they’re not fans of Meta, OpenAI, or any other company that tries to whisk them away from Apple.

But their decision to stay most likely will not be motivated by a purely mathematical comparison of potential offers and their current salary.