Apple Reportedly Hiring Ex-Google Maps Employees To Work on iOS 6 Maps

With all the heat that Apple’s iOS 6 Maps has taken over the past few days, the Cupertino crew has openly acknowledged the issues, according to sources. They’ve posted job listings for the Maps platform, but they may not be hiring just any random software engineer, according to TechCrunch.

Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch is reporting that a former contractor who worked at Google Maps has contacted him with details on Apple’s hiring situation. Apparently Apple is going after numerous ex-Google Map contractors:

Many of my coworkers at Google Maps eventually left when their contracts ended or on their own accord. One guy looked around for other GIS work and ended up at Apple when a recruiter contacted him. He had heard rumors for a while that Apple was going to develop its own in-house mapping platform, and given his experience at Google, he was an easy hire. Apple went out of their way to bring him down to Cupertino and he’s now paid hansomly as a GIS Analyst. Another coworker that was a project lead at Google Maps, left for the East Coast after his contract ended, and was recently contacted by an Apple recruiter. The position sounds like a product development manager position, and will pay him $85k+ and all the moving expenses from the East Coast. He’s gone through 2 rounds of interview and seems like a frontrunner to land that position.

Apple is always known to fare well with new projects, as we’ve seen with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod over the past decade. Now that Apple is actively searching for employees with prior experience in the mapping field, they shouldn’t have an issue at panning out any existing issues. People have to keep in mind that Apple’s Maps application is just a few months old; while Google Maps has been around for years.

Etherington’s source even spoke in a positive tone, stating that Apple has the strength to compete head-on with Google Maps:

At Google Maps, we know what data’s important, rendering priorities, keyword searches, and how the user experience is suppose to be. However, Apple needs to find a way to get its own 5 million miles of street view data, partner with the right folks, and spend a fortune on licensed data – which it can.

I honestly have faith that Apple’s new Maps application will smooth out its issues and become a great competitor. Do you think they could compete on the level of Google Maps also?