The Reason Apple Is Giving Employees Year End Bonuses As Large As $180,000

Apple and Facebook (which hopes everyone will forget that name and stay with Meta) are in a battle for talent, preparatory to creating competing versions of the metaverse which no one, besides their CEOs and a few sycophants really wants or believes the world needs. Facebook is also having to pay up for everything since its reputation now makes outdoor toilets look clean.

As a result, the offers being dangled in front of once-stolid Apple programmers are becoming other-worldly, in other words, too tempting to turn down. Apple is hoping the big money will enable it to keep enough skilled coders until it prevails or Mark Zuckerberg is finally jailed. JL

Katie Canales reports in Business Insider:

Apple is giving some of its engineers massive bonuses as incentives to stay at the tech giant and not flee to competitors like Facebook (Meta). Most of the surprise stock bonuses are valued between $80,000 and $120,000, with some also receiving $50,000 and $180,000. The bonuses, issued to high-performing engineers, vest over the course of four years in order to incentivize employees to remain at Apple. Meta has hired about 100 Apple engineers in recent months, while Apple has similarly brought Meta employees onboard. Meta's worsening image has forced (it) to increase salaries it offers new talent

Apple is giving some of its engineers massive bonuses as incentives to stay at the tech giant and not flee to competitors like Meta, formerly known as Facebook, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Sources told the outlet that most of the surprise stock bonuses are valued between $80,000 and $120,000, with some also receiving $50,000 and $180,000. The bonuses, issued to high-performing engineers, vest over the course of four years in order to incentivize employees to remain at Apple, Bloomberg said.

They are separate from the typical handful of monetary benefits awarded to Apple's employees, Bloomberg said.

Apple did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. The company declined Bloomberg's request for comment.

Tech giants have long vied for top talent within Silicon Valley, with the likes of Meta, Google, Apple, and others fighting tooth and nail for the brightest minds in the industry. These companies have famously established perks, like snack bars and in-house masseuses, in an effort to retain talent – perks that have been disappearing during the pandemic and its office shutdowns.

Apple's rare and surprise bonuses are the latest example of that, especially as Apple and Meta continue to poach employees from each other, Bloomberg reports. Meta has hired about 100 Apple engineers in recent months, while Apple has similarly brought Meta employees onboard.

That tug-of-war has intensified as of late as both companies seek to capitalize on the burgeoning metaverse, most heavily marketed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The push into this futuristic virtual landscape will require top-notch augmented and virtual reality engineering.

Meta has said it plans to spend up to $10 billion in metaverse investments this year alone. However, it's also encountered its own version of an industry-wide struggle to hire and retain employees. 

A PR nightmare and worsening image stemming from the leaked  "Facebook Papers" has forced the company to increase the salaries it offers new talent, Insider reported this month, with some calling it a "brand tax."