Apple’s head of recruiting is leaving the company to become chief human resources officer at investment firm Citadel, people familiar with the matter said. This is a big new departure for the iPhone maker’s tumultuous human resources team.
Sheld Gehring, Apple’s vice president who oversaw talent management, immigration, recruiting and global human resources team management, will join the Miami-based hedge fund next month, people said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter has not been reported. Shared publicly. Spokespeople for Citadel and Apple declined to comment.
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Earlier this week, Apple announced to employees that Goering’s boss, chief human resources officer Carol Surface, would be leaving the company after only about 18 months at the company. Surface internally announced Gehring’s departure last Thursday. At Citadel, Goering will replace Matt Jahanshus, who left the company last month.
Goering told colleagues he was drawn to the Citadel job because of the proximity to his family on the East Coast and his long-held desire to become chief human resources officer. But people familiar with the matter also say that Surface’s management style and a desire to no longer work for her played a role in Goering’s desire to leave Apple.
Surface will be succeeded by Deirdre O’Brien, the company’s head of retail. Mr. O’Brien, who oversaw human resources operations until Mr. Surface was hired early last year, will assume that role again. He is one of Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook’s most trusted lieutenants and employees believe he will help restore stability to the group.
drastic changes in personnel
Apple has seen a surge in turnover from its human resources organization over the past few months, including multiple departures from its diversity and inclusion, executive recruiting, and university recruiting groups. Employees say that under Surface’s leadership, a large team became dysfunctional and that her management style sometimes made staff uncomfortable.
Barbara Why, Apple’s head of diversity and inclusion, is leaving the iPhone maker and will be replaced by former Bank of America executive Cynthia Bowman. According to some sources, Why and Surface had an adversarial relationship. Apple declined to comment on behalf of the two executives. Surface did not respond to another request for comment.
In March, compensation chief Heidi Holter, who also reported to Surface, left the company to join ServiceNow. Additionally, Eddie McLeod, who was Goering’s top deputy, left last year to take a senior human resources role at Ford Motor Co.
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There was a revolving door in this department even before Surface came on board. In 2022, Jennifer Waldo, vice president of human resources, left Ford to become director of human resources. Before that, Apple University President Joel Podolny, who oversaw an in-house school for employees, left for the startup. In 2017, Apple’s first head of diversity, Dennis Young Smith, stepped down after a one-year term. Her successor, Christie Smith, left after just three years with the company.
Young-Smith’s departure came the same year that Stephanie Fehr, former head of human resources at Apple’s retail division, left to become chief human resources officer at UnitedHealthcare.
citadel move
Gerald Beeson, Citadel’s chief operating officer, told employees about Goering’s arrival, saying, “Mr. Scherd is a company that attracts high-caliber candidates from around the world and creates exceptional candidates at Citadel that match their abilities and ambitions.” “I will be at the forefront of efforts to help them build their careers.”
Beeson added that the company is “committed to recruiting and developing great talent,” according to the letter reviewed by Bloomberg.
For Citadel, Goering’s hiring is a coup. He was highly respected at Apple during his nearly six years at the company. Apple’s human resources employees are disappointed that he will not become Apple’s next chief human resources officer, saying he is highly qualified for the role.
Before working for the iPhone maker, Beeson “led recruiting and employee experience at Johnson & Johnson, and earlier in his career spent 10 years at Accenture, where he led the Talent Innovation Lab.” said in a Citadel memo.
Citadel is known as the most profitable hedge fund and is run by billionaire Ken Griffin. The company is currently based in Florida, but Gehring will work from the New York office.
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