Apple's New CEO Thins the Layers Between Engineers and the Top

Your daily brief on leadership and business

John Ternus has been Apple's chief executive for only a few weeks, and he already appears to have a clear view on management layers: fewer of them. According to reports, the new CEO wants a leaner company that is more focused on engineering, with fewer layers separating engineers from senior executives.

The first visible step landed in hardware engineering. Over a period of about two weeks, Apple reportedly dismissed a number of engineering program managers, roles that have been central to how the company develops products for decades. The cuts included roughly half a dozen directors, one of Apple's most senior employee levels. Those affected were given just weeks to find other positions inside the company; those who do not will be laid off later this year.

Hire fewer, expect more

The approach matches views Ternus reportedly held while he ran hardware engineering. He argued that Apple should hire fewer people and get more out of the engineers it already has, and he backed the argument with a slide charting annual headcount growth. Few things concentrate a room like a headcount chart presented by the person who will later become CEO.

• Ternus wants Apple to release more products, more quickly, and to be more experimental.
• One idea is to move away from the traditional spring and fall launch rhythm and ship products throughout the year.
• Product development managers are reportedly under pressure to deliver more on shorter timelines.

The price of speed

Removing program managers raises an obvious management question: who absorbs the coordination work they used to do? People familiar with the situation describe the company as busy, with one saying, "It's hectic right now." Apple also reportedly dropped a summer plan to cut 5,000 AppleCare roles that would have relied on AI agents handling those duties.

For managers elsewhere, the story is a reminder that a new leader's first structural change often reveals the operating model they intend to build. At Apple, the message seems to be shorter distances between the people building products and the people deciding what gets built.