Apple remains the only Big Tech company not to engage in mass layoffs, and CEO Tim Cook says there are still no plans to.
Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and countless others have laid off hundreds of thousands of employees. Throughout it all, Apple has stood alone as the only one of tech’s biggest companies not to follow suit.
Apple has not completely avoided layoffs, with the company letting a small number of its corporate retail employees go. At the time, the layoffs were described as streamlining operations, not an economic-motivated downsizing.
According to CNBC, Cook shot down the possibility of layoffs, saying it was a last resort.
“I view that as a last resort and, so, mass layoffs is not something that we’re talking about at this moment,” he said in a call with analysts.
Many experts say Apple has largely been able to avoid layoffs because it was far more careful than its rivals when it came to hiring. Many Big Tech companies have been accused of ‘vanity hiring,’ saying many employees were doing “fake work.” Similarly, other companies have hired “penned” employees, individuals brought on in the off-chance their skills are needed or to prevent them from going to a competitor.
In contrast, Apple has been relatively conservative in its hiring, and it’s paying dividends for the company as it avoids the fallout many of its rivals are now experiencing.
