Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Beijing, March 13 (Xinhua) Apple's senior management has always been known for its stability, but now it is facing a new challenge: an unprecedented wave of executive departures.

For some time since the second half of 2022, Apple has lost 11 executives, most of whom are vice presidents, slightly lower than the senior vice president who reports to CEO Tim Tim Cook. They are some of Apple's most important people, responsible for the day-to-day operations of many core functions.

These former vice presidents are responsible for a wide range of businesses, including industrial design, online stores, information systems, Apple cloud computing, hardware and software engineering, privacy issues, emerging market sales, subscription services and procurement. A total of 11 key staff have left, far more than Apple has left in recent years.

In the past few years, Apple may lose one or two vice presidents in a 12-month window, such as the head of its self-driving car program who moved to Ford in 2021. Today, Apple has such a large group of people leaving to attract attention, whether they are retired, fired, resigned or moved to another company.

Apple's top management, of course, is accompanied by an influx of new executives. Apple has hired a new chief human resources officer to replace retail director Deirdre O'Brien and a chief information officer to replace Mary Demby and David Smoley.

But in most cases, these departures lead to Apple reassigning responsibilities or promoting people internally. For example, Anna Matthiasen, vice president of the online store, was replaced by her direct subordinate, Karen Rasmussen; the responsibility of Tony Blevins, who was in charge of procurement, was transferred to vice president Dan Rosckes and promoted direct subordinate David Tom.

In all of these cases, there are successors within Apple who can come forward, or at least some executives can take responsibility for leaving employees. But Apple can't find a suitable replacement for Evans Hankey, the outgoing head of industrial design. Instead, it allows individuals on the design team to report to Jeff Williams, chief operating officer. Similarly, Apple has not replaced its chief privacy officer.

The wave of departures continues to spread. Most of Apple's recently departed executives are veterans who have worked at the company for more than 15 years. But in the case of people such as vice presidents of design and services, Apple's lost executives are in the prime of their careers and could one day have risen to the rank of senior vice president.

And this wave of evacuations may be just the beginning. Many of Apple's vice presidents have been at the company for decades and may retire in the next few years. Apple's top management faces a similar situation: 10 of the 12 executives are about the same age. Half of them joined Apple before 2000, and the age gap between Cook and his most likely successor, Operations Director Williams, is only about two years.

Former marketing director Schiller has gradually faded out of Apple management, while many of the long-term mainstays that have helped reshape Apple are nearing the end of their career. For example, former marketing director Phil Schiller is transitioning to a lesser role as an "Apple Fellow academician", focusing on app stores and media activities. Dan Riccio will step down from all hardware engineering responsibilities except for the hybrid reality headset team.

In addition, the time is ripe for the mobility of Apple's lower-level staff. Apple insiders believe that some executives at the director and senior director level (two levels directly below the vice president) are also considering resigning in the near future.

The accelerated departure of these people may be due in part to the increasing responsibility on the shoulders of managers. Over the years, Apple has become more and more bureaucratic, especially in product development. Apple is a huge multinational, which means it's hard for individuals to stand out. Internal politics and interdepartmental bickering will make it harder to manage.

Moreover, Apple's internal resources have been shifted to longer-term plans, some of which may take years to be ready. Some managers may be unhappy that their people have been transferred to hybrid reality teams and self-driving car teams.

In some cases, Apple's vice president is seen as a candidate to replace a senior vice president, and a promotion could lead to a four-to five-fold raise. But Apple probably never made it clear whether or when this would happen. Hankey, the outgoing design director, for example, is said to lack authority, including the ability to overturn engineering decisions made by other departments.

Apple's organizational structure at Apple's headquarters is itself a source of stress. The company is organized by function, which means that the team has to contribute to all important products. For example, the Deputy Director of hardware Engineering will be responsible for assisting in supervising parts of the operations of iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac and AirPods. The head of software engineering will be responsible for managing the teams that contribute to iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS, which run on dozens of hardware products.

This organization made sense in Apple's early days, but it led to increased product development delays, over-dispersed resources, and additional engineering complexity. Of course, this also has benefits, it allows Apple's best talent to participate in the development of every product in the portfolio.

Finally, don't forget that one of the biggest reasons people leave their jobs is money. Apple shares fell nearly 30% last year after three consecutive years of sharp gains. This puts pressure on employees' pay. Apple vice presidents, for example, may earn far more than half of their total compensation.

In this respect, even Mr Cook has been hit. On Friday, Apple shareholders approved a new compensation package, including a pay cut of about 40% for Mr. Cook. In 2023, more than 80% of Cook's income will come from stocks, 75% of which will be linked to the company's performance.

But don't worry too much about Cook leaving soon: his shares won't be fully owned until 2027.

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