Apple gives another round of $100K to $200K bonuses to select top employees

Apple is paying another round of bonuses to some of its staff members, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Notably, this is the second round of such bonuses, having previously issued bonuses ranging from $50,000 to $180,000 back in December. The bonuses come as Apple faces increased competition for top talent in Silicon Valley from the likes of Meta, Google, and Microsoft.

According to today’s report, the latest round of bonuses are valued at as high as $200,000. The company is issuing the bonuses to some of its top software and hardware engineers. According to today’s report, this round of bonuses is “smaller than in December.”

The iPhone maker doled out the bonuses in recent days to a select group of employees in its software and hardware engineering departments, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the move isn’t public. The rewards ranged from around $100,000 to upwards of $200,000 in restricted stock units, with some in the company referring to them as special retention grants. 

Some engineers were informed of their bonuses by senior executives in their respective divisions. Over the past few weeks, the company has also been giving typical annual bonuses and compensation adjustments ahead of its April 15 vesting date. Employee stock vests twice annually, in April and October.

These bonuses generally come in the form of restricted stock units, which vest over multiple years. This vesting schedule gives employees an added incentive to stay at Apple rather than leave for a competitor. Apple has reportedly faced some employee retention issues, particularly with regard to Meta.

Bonuses such as these were once quite rare at Apple, but have become more common recently due to the overall labor market becoming increasingly competitive. Last December, Apple issued bonuses to around 10% to 20% of its top-performing engineers. The company also gave retail employees bonuses last year ahead of the busy holiday shopping season and iPhone 13 launch.

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