Chief People Officer leaves Apple after short 20 month tenure
Carol Surface joined Apple in early 2023 as the new Chief People Officer, but she is set to depart the role after less than two years on the job.
Carol Surface. Image source: Apple
Chief People Officer is a role that was created by taking the human resources department originally under Deirdre O'Brien and forming its own unit. O'Brien had been senior vice president of People and Retail since 2019 until the role split.
According to report from Bloomberg, Carol Surface is departing Apple and the responsibilities Chief People Officer will once again fall under Deirdre O'Brien. The reason for the quick turnaround in the position is unknown.
Apple has seen several significant executive departures in recent years as long-time employees reach retirement. CFO Luca Maestri departs at the end of 2024, and Dan Riccio will soon retire as well.
While retiring after over 20 years at Apple is one thing, leaving after 20 months is another. Apple could have realized it didn't need the position, or Surface could be leaving for better prospects -- there's no way of knowing without an official statement.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
We all know what "Human Resources" (aka HR) is about. But Chief People Officer is a head scratcher!
At the end of the day, I guess she left because she wasn't a people person after all. :-)
But in the greater scheme of things, does it really matter?
But to be fair it is a role much larger than just HR. She also managed projects like recruiting for Apple's college programs and such. She reported directly to Tim Cook. It is curious that she left, but not entirely crazy. Apple is a tough company and outsiders tend to not do well in those executive positions. Most of Apple's Leadership page are people that rose through the ranks over decades, not outside hires like Surface.
The job of HR is to manipulate and control people in order to exploit them to the fullest extent possible to enrich shareholders. Everything else is window dressing.
Let's remember that HR doesn't exist to protect the employee. It's exists to protect the company.
Never ever forget that.