Apple Chief People Officer Carol Surface Resigns After Six Months in Role

Carol Surface has resigned as the Chief People Officer of Apple. Surface joined Apple in April 2023 and was reportedly given the task of overseeing the streamlining of human resources operations at Apple.

It had given the chance for Deirdre O’Brien, Senior Vice President of People and Retail, to focus only on the retail group of the company. Following Surface’s resignation, this supervisory function that O’Brien had assumed over both retail and human resources had better be resumed.

As a lead of the People group at Apple, Surface is responsible for managing employee engagement, professional development, and overall employee well-being globally for the company. She also oversees the areas of employee and leader development, benefits, compensation programs, driving diversity and inclusion, hiring, and employee relations, all while leading the Apple University.

Before joining Apple, Surface was Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Medtronic. Her experience is also at PepsiCo and Best Buy. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology from Castleton University and industrial and organizational psychology by central Michigan University.