Apple's ($AAPL) recent focus on health technology isn't much of a mystery: its latest Watch includes multiple health features, including a much-lauded ECG sensor, fall-down sensors, and deep fitness tracking.
But based on hiring data trends, it appears Apple has every intention to continue to invest in health technology. Job openings at the company with the term "Health" in their titles have been on a steady rise in 2017 and accelerated this fall into winter.
The rise in "Health" jobs at Apple began in October 2017 when Apple listed just 15 jobs with "Health" in their titles. Today, it lists 75 such jobs. This rise coincides with the launch of the new Apple Watch and new mobile operating systems that include health and fitness tracking technologies and apps.
|
Category |
Count |
|---|---|
|
Software and Services |
32 |
|
Hardware |
20 |
|
Corporate Functions |
11 |
|
Operations and Supply Chain |
4 |
|
Support and Service |
2 |
|
Sales and Business Development |
2 |
|
Marketing |
2 |
|
Design |
1 |
|
Not Available |
1 |
As for the kind of jobs Apple is hiring for in this set, many are "Software and Services" jobs with 32 openings, including titles like "Health Software - watchOS App Engineer" and "Clinical Health Informatist." The "Hardware" category includes jobs such as "Sensing Hardware EE (Health Sensing)" and the more mysterious (and interesting) "Next-Generation Health Sensor Algorithm Engineer" that the company has been trying to hire for since November 5, 2018.
Interestingly, some of the more recent job postings in the "Health" keyword set include QA — quality assurance — positions. This could indicate that Apple is in the final testing phase of some new health technologies.
|
Title |
Brand |
Location Text |
Posted Date |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Health Experience QA Engineer |
Software and Services |
Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) |
20190108 |
|
Health Software QA Automation Engineer |
Software and Services |
Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) |
20190108 |
|
Health Experiences QA Manager |
Software and Services |
Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) |
20190103 |
|
Health Software Regulatory QA Engineer |
Software and Services |
Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) |
20190103 |
|
Health Software QA Manager |
Software and Services |
Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) |
20190103 |
|
Health Software QA Engineer |
Software and Services |
Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) |
20190103 |
|
Health Software Regulatory QA Manager |
Software and Services |
Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) |
20190103 |
Given the hiring trends, it's clear that Apple will continue to invest in health and health sensing as part of its product roadmap. Just this morning, in fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook took a moment to tweet how proud he was of the Apple Watch's health sensing tech: