IT House Feb. 9 news, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced in a memo sent to employees today that the company will hire its first Chief People Officer.
With Apple's decision to create a new "chief people officer" position, the job responsibilities of its retail director will also change. Apple announced the removal of retail executive Deirdre O'Brien from its human resources responsibilities and the appointment of Carol Surface as its chief people officer. Cook said Surface will report to him and start working at Apple in March.
According to reports, the Carol Surface served as the executive vice president of human resources at Medtronic, a medical device company with about 100,000 employees, for 10 years, and her arrival announced the birth of Apple's first chief human resources officer.
Prior to Medtronic, she spent three and a half years as Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Best Buy and more than a decade in HR and HR at PepsiCo. IT House found that she holds a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in psychology from Castleton University, and a major in industrial and organizational psychology from Central Michigan University.
Deirdre O'Brien has previously worked for Apple for 30 years, serving the dual role of Senior Vice President of Retail + People since 2019. With the arrival of Carol Surface, she will focus on her retail responsibilities starting in March.