Apple is losing staff by the dozen. But that's not a problem

Apple is still loved by its staff, even if a lot of them are ditching out for Tesla, Snap, and its other rivals

Dozens of high-ranking Apple staffers have departed the company for rivals this year, the latest of which is Tanya Ridd, head of Apple's corporate PR in Europe, who last week ditched the iPhone maker for Snap.

Ridd's move follows a swathe of Apple employees running to Tesla, including Bas Ording, Apple UI designer; Chris Lattner, head developer of X-Code; Matt Casebolt, director of product design; Sarah O'Brien, communications head; and Colin Smith, Mac communications director.

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What this says about Apple's own stalling car efforts, we dare not speculate. (Though ex-staffers have also gone to GoPro, eBay, Y Combinator, Waymo and more.)

Is it a sign of trouble at Apple, or the simple evolution of any big corporation? Benedict Evans, of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, isn't convinced the staff churn stems from turmoil at Apple. "It’s a big company, and they have turnover," he said in an email to WIRED. "I don’t think one can draw a line between a programming language developer leaving... and a PR person in London."

Mark Di-Toro, careers expert at Glassdoor, also doesn't believe the executive exodus reflects wider issues. "When senior people leave, there's always that natural churn of employees — that happens everywhere," Di-Tor told WIRED. "High profile departures always raise eyebrows, but the reality is they're one of the best places to work in the world."

Don't roll your eyes: Glassdoor has the data to back that up. Di-Toro said in the UK employees rated Apple 41st best to work, and in the US 36th, out of tens of thousands of companies. CEO Tim Cook was rated the best CEO, with a 93 per cent rating — well above the average on the site of 66 per cent. Apple's score from Glassdoor users, which are employees at the companies they rate, is four out of five, well above the 3.3 average across the site.

Di-Toro noted that Glassdoor users are asked to leave both positive and negative feedback. For Apple, users report highlights such as innovative products to work on, solid employee benefits and pay, and plenty of opportunities to learn. On the downside, Apple staff complain about long hours and employee favouritism, and say there are limited paths to progress in their careers, as well as staff retention problems. "If you're in a company and you don't feel there's a path of progression, you're going to look elsewhere," Di-Toro said.

That could explain some of the departing executives, though Di-Toro has another theory: as any company evolves and matures, its needs change, and top-notch staff may find themselves less in demand, or even unnecessary. "There may have been senior staff at Apple that gained fantastic experience launching new products or into new markets... and then another company comes along and needs that type of experience," he added. "It's an extremely competitive environment... they're willing to pay a lot of money to get the best talent."

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But Di-Toro noted money only takes you so far. After a certain salary milestone, the importance of pay gives way to less tangible benefits such as flexible working and more autonomy in the role, he said, noting in the UK it appears to be about £70,000. "It's these kinds of things that lead to retaining staff and keeping staff motivated," he said. "Maybe that's what we're seeing at Apple... it's good at getting employees in, but finding it harder to keep them."

Patrick Tame, CEO at recruiter Beringer Tame, said he'd have no trouble finding workers to apply for Apple roles, calling it a "powerful brand" that people want to work for as it offers a desirable line on their CV. "If you work for Apple, you must be good, right?" he said.

Read more: 10 major iPhone failures – and how Apple learned from them

Having a well-known brand isn't everything, he said, and other tech giants do have challenges recruiting. "If I had a job for Apple that I was recruiting, I wouldn't struggle to find people wanting to go for it. That can't be said for Amazon." The retailer was accused of a "toxic" work culture last year, and that has led to people point blank refusing jobs there, he claims. "[Apple] has got a long way to go before they start struggling the way Amazon has."

What could be a problem is Apple's global spread - Tame suggests it's less interesting to work at "colloquial" outposts of US tech giants, as they tend to keep the best innovations closer to home. Its maturation from an innovator into a corporate behemoth might also be an obstacle. LinkedIn figures suggest there's more growth in sales than engineering at Apple, with new jobs for the former category up 110 per cent, and only 3 per cent for engineers. Plus, tweaking the iPhone for an iterative release each September isn't as much fun as inventing it, with Silicon Valley recruiters suggesting it's no longer top of their list.

Tech giants have long turned to other sources of fun to draw top staff, with Google famously installing a slide in one office, and others mimicking that idea with colourful headquarters, air hockey or pool tables, and free food. Apple hasn't gone down that route — Main tech recruiter Morgan Missen noted the company doesn't offer a free lunch to staff, unlike many other companies. And though its new headquarters in Cupertino look set to include some employee perks, such fripperies likely aren't enough to convince most in-demand tech staff. "I doubt very much you're applying for a company because it has an air hockey table," Tame said.

"Companies that you think are going to be really attractive employers often are not that great [with employee perks] because they don't have to be that great," he said. "Apple is an example of that. If you have 100 applications for every job you've got and 20 of those are amazing, it's not a problem."

What all that means is the most exciting work — and the most fun office life — is no longer at tech giants, but smaller startups. "That for me is where I find the real diamonds in the rough, because those individuals have the real confidence to not work for the big companies," said Tame. "The only difference between them and someone who does work for a high gross company is their company didn't take off."

Despite the retention and recruitment challenges Apple and its peers face, Tame says he would still not turn down a job at the company. "It's still got the draw, despite everything."

This article was originally published by WIRED UK