technology company Apple tries to stop mass layoffs by all means Faced with the current slowdown, to which other large companies such as Amazon, Alphabet or Meta have been doomed. The truth is that Apple acted with greater foresight and it is that it hired more efficiently.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Apple made the decision to hire fewer workers than other companies in the sector, and this now seems to be starting to yield efficient results. The reality of the American company is that, with the control that is being carried out on the control of expenses and the reduction of new hires in certain areas, it is avoiding mass layoffs as it has already done in others.
Time has shown that technology companies launched into hiring personnel during the pandemic to improve efficiency and results, betting that changes in lifestyles such as remote work, or e-commerce expenses, they would stay higher and generate more profits.
Now these companies are facing the consequences, as is the case of Zoom, which will cut 15% of its workforce. Apple, cautious during the pandemic years, increased its workforce by just 20% from 2020 to 2022, compared to a 60% increase at Alphabet and nearly double at Amazon, which have now announced more than 3,000 layoffs. .
The consequences of the layoffs for Apple
The Apple company is aware that although layoffs are being a natural and recurring phenomenon within the economic and technological sector, it would be much more difficult for them to justify. The reality speaks for itself, and it is that although the monetary situation has dropped considerably, Apple is still much more profitable than other companies in the sectorand it is that only in the last quarter it has raised 30,000 million dollars.
Despite the crisis, heApple shares have risen 20% in these first months of 2023 and they have the forecast of presenting a new operating system and a mixed reality headset in just three months, a fact that will place them in a new generation beyond the iPhone.
On the other hand, the company that was founded by Steve Jobs among others, is aware that there is something of much more value than economics, reputation. They believe that the layoffs would lead to the belief that Apple made mistakes, and that is something they want to avoid at all costs.
This is how Apple has avoided layoffs
But the crisis in the sector has arrived for everyone and Apple was not going to be less, in this sense, its sales fell 5% in the last quarter and are expected to continue to decline. Faced with such a scenario, the company continues to prepare to avoid a worse outcome and that is why it works conscientiously to contain costs and make its productions much more efficient.
- Delay of bonuses for corporate teams that were previously paid twice a year. Now the bonds will be received in October and in full.
- Delay of new projects They hope to be on the market soon. That’s the case with the HomePod home device. Now Apple will be able to allocate that research and development budget to other more urgent projects.
- Budget control with the approval of his vice president.
- Hiring Stop of Equipements.
- Dismissal during 2022 non-full-time employees.
- Reduced travel budgets. From now on the money earmarked for this must be approved by senior executives.
- Lack of recruitment. The company is leaving open positions both in positions where there is a permanent lack of staff and in cases of sick leave.
- Elderly control of attendance at work.
In the words of Tim Cook to the Wall Street Journal: “I see layoffs as a last resort”, although he did not rule them out outright: “You can never say never. We want to manage costs in other ways as much as possible.”
The reality is that the company has been better positioned than its rivalsbecause its payroll growth has been slower than others during the pandemic, but even if Apple has not yet announced major cuts, the company could reduce its workforce in a much more discreet way.
