Estranged from its contemporaries amid massive tech layoffs sweeping across the industry including the Big tech layoffs, Apple has now had to jump on the diabolical bandwagon of corporate furloughs. As prudent efficiencies go, corporate layoffs in technology take the off-putting biscuit.
When the tech giant introduced the first-ever color graphics in the computer industry, it had ricocheted to $117 million in sales in 1980 from a modest $7.8 million in 1978. The glorious success of Apple is multidimensional, but unshakable as the company that espoused ‘innovation’. Even the 1996’s almost-bankruptcy crisis was averted when Steve Jobs decided to return to Apple to erode its standstill development.
So why did Apple, the company that distinguished itself from the wave of big tech layoffs over the industry, suddenly bite the dust?
Big Tech Layoffs 2023: Apple Layoffs:
Apple’s decision to refrain during the over-hiring binge of the tech workforce phase stabilized its expansion and displayed resilience with shrewd calculations of what could be the next move of tech companies. While the headcount at other big tech companies accelerated between 57-100 percent, Apple’s relatively slow hiring pace between 2019-2022 grew its employee strength by 20 percent.
“We’re cutting hiring, we’re being prudent and quite deliberate on people that we hire.”
– Tim Cook
Citing global headwinds and restructuring, massive tech industry job cuts have been tailing major corporations like Meta – 21,000 layoffs, Google – 12,000 furloughs, Microsoft – 10,000 job cuts and Amazon – 27,000 tech layoffs, all of which had been bleeding money.
According to several reports from Bloomberg and Business Insider, Apple corporate layoffs are slated to implicate a small number of employees from its corporate retail division that consists of development and preservation teams, which oversee the construction and upkeep of Apple’s retail stores. The tech giant gaited through a slow fiscal quarter by virtue of slowing product demand in the thick of economic malaise. Most employees in this division are being instructed to apply for similar roles in other organizations and those who don’t, will receive up to four months of severance pay upon being laid off.
The Apple layoffs news isn’t yet clear on how many unfortunate employees will be deserted, with reports claiming the number to be quite small and impacting the Apple units in the U.S., Asia-Pacific and Europe. The current CEO, Tim Cook’s no layoffs statement proved his leadership style but is also cascading on the much harsher reality of materializing for Apple.
While Cook told the Wall Street Journal that layoffs would be ‘a last resort’, he also didn’t rule out the possibility by adding that one can never say never.
Cook is pushed into bringing the hammer down on retail team job cuts as the tech company pitches these streamlining efforts as means to improve operations, rather than the crass term of layoffs. In other ways of paring down costs, Apple has also been laying off contractors, delaying bonuses, pausing hiring, and pushing back projects whilst reducing travel budgets as well. Cook’s efforts to slash budgets also included cutting his CEO pay by 40 percent.
Apple’s frugal strategy reflects down to the management’s chamberlain over shareholder money and tight pockets on growth opportunities. When Apple stood out from its peers, analysts noted that if the tech giant were to ever chart the same course as its preliminaries, it would either signify that Apple made a strategic blunder by not deciding sooner, or the global economy should be feared to be in a much worse shape than predicted.
These tech layoffs had indicated a derailing recession when they started in November 2022. While corporate layoffs at Apple now contravenes its air of distinction amongst tech layoffs that beseeched the industry, the ambiguity of this streamlining attempt is boggling industry leaders on whether this is a one-off or the first wave of layoffs for the iPhone genius. Apple’s stock was nearly up by 33 percent year-to-date.
