Apple to Give Stock Bonuses of Up to $200K to its Engineers to Persuade Them to Stay With the Company

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 25 March 2022, 09:03 pm

Apple is again rewarding its engineers with stock bonuses in order to persuade them to stay with the company.

Select hardware and software engineers are expected to get bonuses of up to $200K, which is a rare offering from Apple.

Apple to Give Bonuses to Engineers

In December 2021, Apple gave up to $180,000 in bonuses to chosen engineers in silicon design, operations, and hardware, while the new bonuses are going to both software and hardware engineers.

The source who told Bloomberg about the new round of bonuses said that fewer engineers are getting the special grant this year.

According to MacRumors, the bonuses will range from $100,000 to $200,000 and will be given in the form of restricted stock units that are set to vest over the course of four years if the employees stay with Apple and do not take jobs at other tech companies.

Also Read: iPhone 12 Release: Apple Pays $880 With Over $1K Bonus Each Production Workers Just to Meet Deadline

Apple has been giving bonuses to encourage employees retention and to prevent other companies like Meta from poaching its talented engineers.

Apple Rewarded Engineers Up to $180K

Last year, the tech giant gave stock bonuses to its engineers in order to prevent them from moving on to companies like Meta.

Bloomberg reported that the select hardware, software, silicon design, and operations were informed that they would be receiving stock bonuses ranging from $50,000 to $180,000, which is an unusual and significant gift from the tech giant.

The payouts are not part of normal Apple compensation packages, which include a base salary, a cash bonus, and stock units. Apple sometimes awards additional cash bonuses to its employees, but the size of the latest stock grans was timed and atypical.

The stock grants given to engineers in applicable divisions were about 10% to 20%.

In 2018, Apple gave its top employees $2,500 stock bonuses.

Apple told the managers that the bonuses could be given to engineers as a reward for high performers, and it is meant to keep companies like Meta from poaching its employees.

Meta has reportedly hired around 100 engineers from Apple in the past couple of months, but Apple also has hired previous Meta employees.

Meta is recruiting engineers and employees from Apple's augmented reality department, AI, and engineering departments. Meta is planning to launch its own smartwatch in the near future, that is expected to complete with Apple Watch.

When Apple launches its planned AR/VR headset, it is expected to compete with the Meta-owned Oculus virtual reality headsets.

Hiring Former Meta Employees

In December 2021, The Verge reported that Apple hired Andrea Schubert, Meta's former communications and public relations lead for its upcoming augmented reality products. Schubert worked for Meta for six years before resigning.

As Apple works on the team for its augmented reality division, rumors continue to spread about the tech giant's AR/VR head, but the tech giant is still tight-lipped about it.

Also, it was previously reported that the headset could cost $3,000 and it will come with 8K cosplays, with 3D sensors for hand tracking.

The headset may also have to rely on a connected Mac or iPhone for processor-heavy tasks. Fans may have to wait longer for Apple to officially release details about the headsets.