Apple she’s facing a challenge she wasn’t used to: several executives have left Cupertino in the last months. Known for its stability at the top, Apple is managing a turnover unprecedented in its history.
Apple and executive turnover – Tim Cook’s challenge
As the Apple expert recalls on Bloomberg Mark Gurman, this pace of change at the top is unusual for Apple. In the second half of 2022, Apple has lost about a dozen high-ranking executives. Most of these people held the title of vice president (VP), just below the level of senior vice president reporting directly to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.
Executives from industries such as the industrial design, the online store, information systems, Apple’s cloud efforts, hardware and software engineering aspects, privacy issues, emerging market sales, subscription services and procurement. Eleven key figures.
In the past, no more than a couple of VPs left Cupertino in any 12-month period. Having such a large group leaving now is noteworthy. Whether it’s to retire or to another company.
Of course, there has also been an influx of executives. Apple has introduced a new chief people officer to take over the duties held by head of retail Deirde O’Brien e un chief information officer pto replace Mary Demby and David Smoley.
But most of the time, Apple has either promoted someone on the team or merged multiple functions into the hands of one executive. However, in at least one case he has not been able to find a replacement: the industrial design team, after the farewell of Evans Hankeyriporta al Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams.
If we consider that many of them had been in Cupertino for over fifteen years and at the peak of their careers. However, Gurman reports that, since Apple adopts a functional and not a product-based approach, some VPs follow different projects: for example, design takes care of everything, from the iPhone to the new VR headset. This may have contributed to the farewell of some executives, together with the drop in salary due to the decrease in Apple shares.