Tim Cook Announces New Restricted Stock Unit Program for All Apple Employees

[photosbynick]

Apple truly cares about not only the customer, but also the employee.

You obviously never worked at Apple. I was there when Jobs was in his prime. 2005-2010. iPhone and iPad release time period. Apple was growing fast then and I watch the company go from what their core culture used to be all about and in to the corporate greedy **** they became. I would still be working there if they would have kept their core values. Instead, they transformed in to a corporate monster.

Now I still love Apple and I still use Apple products and I always will. I like what they are doing as a company and I think Tim is doing a nice job picking up where Steve left off. I bet that the current products and ideas are still a stem from what Jobs left us with. The real Tim Cook will be coming out soon as there can't be many Steve Jobs ideas and products left. I am eager to see what happens next. The next few years should be interesting to see what Tim does. I hope he makes it happen

 

[JustMartin]

Idiot. It's over 3 years, not 4, therefore about $700/year, assuming the stock value doesn't increase in the next 3 years, which is very unlikely... RSU stock is usually reserved only for top executives. I don't know of any other corporation out there the size of Apple that give RSU to ALL their employees. That will pay for a brand new iPhone in full every year! How is that not awesome news for their retail employees?

Bravo, Apple!

Well, I think the vesting period varies from company to company or even from grant to grant. 4 or more years is not unusual. And in the tech industry, I don't think it's uncommon for ALL employees to be ELIGIBLE for stock grants. But, I don't think the article says that every employee will get an RSU - it's usually reserved for the high performing people they want to keep.

 

[Gasu E.]

I thought Cook would receive 1,000,000 shares pre split. I doubt he still gets 1 million shares but 7 million instead.

If his plan was set up pre-split, you are 100% correct.

 

[BruiserB]

In my experience the rate isn't normal withholdings. My tax guy explained it once, it's more complicated than just income tax.

Well, your experience is contrary to mine. I have RSUs that vest each year and I know exactly how they end up getting reported on my W-2 (as normal ordinary income) and how the taxes are withheld and paid (and yes they do withhold a lot just as they do for bonuses, overtime, etc., but you aren't actually taxed any higher than on normal income). So many people mix up taxes withheld and taxes paid (and think that if they get a refund at the end of the year that they didn't "pay" taxes).

 

[paross]

If this replaced the old stock purchase program, then this is a greedy way of taking away a good benefit from retail.

The reality is that the retail stores barely pay a living wage. I worked there a year while my wife was a para-educator. I could afford to work there because I wasn't living off the Apple Retail pay. She got pregnant and we decided she would stay at home. I couldn't stay at Apple.

I have about 10 shares of Apple Stock from my time as an employee. They are mine. No restrictions. Had this program been in place, I may not have any after leaving.

You want to retain your talent? Here's a few tips Apple:

1. Pay them better. You have 200 billion dollars. Share a little more with the grunts on the front lines.
2. Fix your broken scheduling. Working till 11 one night then 8 again the next morning was not cool. Sporadic and unpredictable shifts were horrible.
3. Show that corporate gives a hoot about retail. Come visit stores that aren't in major markets. Give kudos and attention to the folks who work their butts off.
4. Don't do major upgrades to internal systems on weekends and holidays... we're still open and when retail systems go down when there isn't someone to call, it's a nightmare.
5. Trim the fat. Every retail store has it. Some folks are super negative and need to go. That may include management. Get more involved in your stores and really get a feel for the attitudes there.
6. NPS sucks. When you're graded on a scale where 1-7 is bad, 8-9 are neutral and only a 10 is positive, you feel constantly brow beat. Sure, NSP is a standard metric, but isn't Apple different?
7. Fix Apple culture. Times are changing. It feels like the cool hippy spirit of the store is fading into a more corporate feel. Angela, you should restore the excitement of launch days. Tim, you should revisit what OneToOne is all about, and don't be so dang stingy with Apple branded perks. Water bottles and t-shirts are cheap but people love Apple branded gear.
8. Empower your employees. Let them make more judgement calls. Apple magic is more than just a receipt coming out of a table or a product being delivered from behind a big steel wall. Apple magic is letting someone replace out of warranty headphones because it's the right thing to do. It's about making customers feel special when they walk into your stores.


Talent retention isn't about holding financial benefits hostage, it's about creating an environment where people both want to stay and can afford to stay.

 

[icehockey77]

If this replaced the old stock purchase program, then this is a greedy way of taking away a good benefit from retail.

The reality is that the retail stores barely pay a living wage. I worked there a year while my wife was a para-educator. I could afford to work there because I wasn't living off the Apple Retail pay. She got pregnant and we decided she would stay at home. I couldn't stay at Apple.

I have about 10 shares of Apple Stock from my time as an employee. They are mine. No restrictions. Had this program been in place, I may not have any after leaving.

You want to retain your talent? Here's a few tips Apple:

1. Pay them better. You have 200 billion dollars. Share a little more with the grunts on the front lines.
2. Fix your broken scheduling. Working till 11 one night then 8 again the next morning was not cool. Sporadic and unpredictable shifts were horrible.
3. Show that corporate gives a hoot about retail. Come visit stores that aren't in major markets. Give kudos and attention to the folks who work their butts off.
4. Don't do major upgrades to internal systems on weekends and holidays... we're still open and when retail systems go down when there isn't someone to call, it's a nightmare.
5. Trim the fat. Every retail store has it. Some folks are super negative and need to go. That may include management. Get more involved in your stores and really get a feel for the attitudes there.
6. NPS sucks. When you're graded on a scale where 1-7 is bad, 8-9 are neutral and only a 10 is positive, you feel constantly brow beat. Sure, NSP is a standard metric, but isn't Apple different?
7. Fix Apple culture. Times are changing. It feels like the cool hippy spirit of the store is fading into a more corporate feel. Angela, you should restore the excitement of launch days. Tim, you should revisit what OneToOne is all about, and don't be so dang stingy with Apple branded perks. Water bottles and t-shirts are cheap but people love Apple branded gear.
8. Empower your employees. Let them make more judgement calls. Apple magic is more than just a receipt coming out of a table or a product being delivered from behind a big steel wall. Apple magic is letting someone replace out of warranty headphones because it's the right thing to do. It's about making customers feel special when they walk into your stores.


Talent retention isn't about holding financial benefits hostage, it's about creating an environment where people both want to stay and can afford to stay.

It's funny, I wrote essentially this in my NPP and got fired less than a month later. Number 8 was my sticking point. The genius bar catches a lot of guff, but they are overworked and under appreciated. I worked at a store that was primarily visited for services, and we were treated like children. The most of us on staff were able to make quick decisions and deal with the inherent ambiguity of the job, and we could see the impact a decision would have a few steps down the line, but if I ever spoke up about it I was immediately reprimanded.

They did me a favor, and I made good on my stock plan. Got me a new car when I needed it, and a deposit on a rental house in the city, so I can't be too upset.

 

[Duane Martin]

Not common but most companies do give them to all employees including mine.

Most companies do??? Most companies give all employees RSUs? Other than Apple, name one. Name your company.

 

[maxsix]

The timing of this is quite interesting.

Although there's still some time before the end of the year, the poor stock performance in 2015 thus far is rather dreadful. It has been one of the worst years they've had.

 

[Mactendo]

Apple CEO Tim Cook, for example, will receive a total of 1,000,000 shares of Apple stock should he stay with the company until 2021 so long as Apple performs well.

They'd better measure performance not in $ but in the product quality...

 

[dojoman]

Most companies do??? Most companies give all employees RSUs? Other than Apple, name one. Name your company.

Oh let's see. Facebook, Google, Oracle, Juniper Networks, ... should I keep going? You need to understand that companies give out RSU in lieu of bonuses to retain employees. You may not get RSU every year but most companies don't limit to just top executives like Apple was doing. That doesn't seem fair.

 

[kagharaht]

Oh let's see. Facebook, Google, Oracle, Juniper Networks, ... should I keep going? You need to understand that companies give out RSU in lieu of bonuses to retain employees. You may not get RSU every year but most companies don't limit to just top executives like Apple was doing. That doesn't seem fair.

They have "Retail" employees that receive this?

 

[MH01]

Good option to have as an employee. Especially to the people who love apple and commit long term to the vision.

 

[Rogifan]

If this replaced the old stock purchase program, then this is a greedy way of taking away a good benefit from retail.

It didn't replace anything it's a brand-new program.

 

[AFEPPL]

Apple truly cares about not only the customer, but also the employee.

lol, sure they do...

 

[finnns2000]

If this replaced the old stock purchase program, then this is a greedy way of taking away a good benefit from retail.

The reality is that the retail stores barely pay a living wage. I worked there a year while my wife was a para-educator. I could afford to work there because I wasn't living off the Apple Retail pay. She got pregnant and we decided she would stay at home. I couldn't stay at Apple.

I have about 10 shares of Apple Stock from my time as an employee. They are mine. No restrictions. Had this program been in place, I may not have any after leaving.

You want to retain your talent? Here's a few tips Apple:

1. Pay them better. You have 200 billion dollars. Share a little more with the grunts on the front lines.
2. Fix your broken scheduling. Working till 11 one night then 8 again the next morning was not cool. Sporadic and unpredictable shifts were horrible.
3. Show that corporate gives a hoot about retail. Come visit stores that aren't in major markets. Give kudos and attention to the folks who work their butts off.
4. Don't do major upgrades to internal systems on weekends and holidays... we're still open and when retail systems go down when there isn't someone to call, it's a nightmare.
5. Trim the fat. Every retail store has it. Some folks are super negative and need to go. That may include management. Get more involved in your stores and really get a feel for the attitudes there.
6. NPS sucks. When you're graded on a scale where 1-7 is bad, 8-9 are neutral and only a 10 is positive, you feel constantly brow beat. Sure, NSP is a standard metric, but isn't Apple different?
7. Fix Apple culture. Times are changing. It feels like the cool hippy spirit of the store is fading into a more corporate feel. Angela, you should restore the excitement of launch days. Tim, you should revisit what OneToOne is all about, and don't be so dang stingy with Apple branded perks. Water bottles and t-shirts are cheap but people love Apple branded gear.
8. Empower your employees. Let them make more judgement calls. Apple magic is more than just a receipt coming out of a table or a product being delivered from behind a big steel wall. Apple magic is letting someone replace out of warranty headphones because it's the right thing to do. It's about making customers feel special when they walk into your stores.


Talent retention isn't about holding financial benefits hostage, it's about creating an environment where people both want to stay and can afford to stay.

Agreed. Worked for Apple retail before the first iPhone even came out. The year it came out, I feel like the culture, the management, everything changed. Turnover went from zilch to overdrive, pressures to sell AppleCare were more important than producing a great shopping experience, I left because it became "retail hell" and greed was a huge reason why

You obviously never worked at Apple. I was there when Jobs was in his prime. 2005-2010. iPhone and iPad release time period. Apple was growing fast then and I watch the company go from what their core culture used to be all about and in to the corporate greedy **** they became. I would still be working there if they would have kept their core values. Instead, they transformed in to a corporate monster.

Now I still love Apple and I still use Apple products and I always will. I like what they are doing as a company and I think Tim is doing a nice job picking up where Steve left off. I bet that the current products and ideas are still a stem from what Jobs left us with. The real Tim Cook will be coming out soon as there can't be many Steve Jobs ideas and products left. I am eager to see what happens next. The next few years should be interesting to see what Tim does. I hope he makes it happen

Culture, yes. It was so different in those years, a real shame it became more about dollars and cents instead of Apple's core value.

 

[nutjob]

Why do you think that? This only applies to employees not already getting stock options. Also if Apple felt there was less upside to the stock long term why are they issuing debt to buy back stock? Isn't that a sign Apple feels it's stock is undervalued? Why do people have to be cynical about everything?

Ugh, why do people have to be so defensive about everything? Do you understand the difference between options and RSUs? An employee option that falls below the strike price is worthless (they generally can't be sold), but even if the stock goes down the RSUs have value. They otherwise can be made to vest in exactly the same way. So if that's the only difference what are we supposed to conclude? That Apple is great and the stock price will be going up exponentially for ever and sunshine and lollipops. Am I still being too cynical?

Also who says that it only applies to people not getting options?

 

[nutjob]

Apple truly cares about not only the customer, but also the employee.

Yes, Apple cares about what it can extract out of both for its own benefit. It's required to do that by law.

 

[Rogifan]

Ugh, why do people have to be so defensive about everything? Do you understand the difference between options and RSUs? An employee option that falls below the strike price is worthless (they generally can't be sold), but even if the stock goes down the RSUs have value. They otherwise can be made to vest in exactly the same way. So if that's the only difference what are we supposed to conclude? That Apple is great and the stock price will be going up exponentially for ever and sunshine and lollipops. Am I still being too cynical?

Also who says that it only applies to people not getting options?

What are we supposed to conclude? My conclusion is that the executive team is trying to do right by all employees by offering them something that previously was only available to employees at certain grade levels most likely making a lot of money. And it's also another way of retaining talent. I guess I just don't understand why something like this would be viewed negatively. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because some people will be cynical about anything.

 

[nutjob]

What are we supposed to conclude? My conclusion is that the executive team is trying to do right by all employees by offering them something that previously was only available to employees at certain grade levels most likely making a lot of money. And it's also another way of retaining talent. I guess I just don't understand why something like this would be viewed negatively. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because some people will be cynical about anything.

You didn't address my point at all. You said I was being cynical, but I merely pointed out the difference between options and RSUs, the only difference being that the latter keeps some value value when the stock drops. The fact that Apple is compensating its employees is irrelevant here and nothing to do with my posts on the subject.

So tell us, why is Apple issuing RSUs instead of options?

 

[zooby]

.