Apple has a new problem: Quick departure of senior executives who report to Tim Cook

Apple Inc.’s chief people officer is leaving the iPhone maker after less than two years, according to people with knowledge of the matter, marking an unusually short tenure for a senior executive at the company.

Carol Surface, who started at Apple in early 2023 and reports to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, is departing, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the move hasn’t been announced. Apple employees were notified of the exit on Wednesday, they said.

When Surface joined Apple, she took over the people role from Deirdre O’Brien, who had been managing that team in addition to the company’s retail stores. With Surface’s departure, O’Brien will return to her prior role of running both groups.

Though Surface remains listed on Apple’s executive biographies website as of Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for Apple confirmed the moves.

The chief people officer title was created for Surface, who was tasked with overseeing human resources, inclusion, diversity and recruiting for Apple’s roughly 160,000 employees. She previously held a similar role at Medtronic Plc, a health technology company.

Surface had been part of a group of fewer than 20 executives reporting to Cook, who is dealing with a broader changing of the guard at the Cupertino, California-based technology giant. 

At the end of this year, Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri is stepping down from that role — though he’s staying on to oversee a smaller array of functions, including real estate and information systems. Dan Riccio, a longtime senior engineering executive who shepherded the Vision Pro, retires this month. Dan Rosckes, the company’s procurement chief, is also exiting. And Matt Fischer, Apple’s App Store head, is leaving in October as well.

The company’s HR organization has seen other changes recently, with its prior head of diversity and inclusion leaving earlier this year. She was replaced by Cynthia Bowman, who joined from Bank of America Corp. 

Surface’s quick departure is rare for executives at her level of seniority. A few years ago, Apple named a new vice president of communications who left after only a matter of months. The company also employed retail chief John Browett for less than a year, but that was more than a decade ago.

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