Tech giants laid off workers, but not Apple—here’s why

Call it their core values.

Tech giant Apple has bucked the trend, avoiding layoffs despite a dip in revenue. That’s due to a number of factors, including that the company didn’t overhire during the post-pandemic boom.

During an earnings call on February 2, Apple CEO Tim Cook stressed the relative strength of the company’s position, despite a 5% drop in revenue year over year, and urged investors not to be discouraged. The Apple CEO sounded bullish on the economy, reflecting a consensus among economists and other observers that is growing as the severity of the expected downturn is being reassessed.

“The industry is very challenged,” Cook said, adding, “The industry is contracting…I don’t know how this year will play out, so I don’t want to predict the year, but over the long run, we have a market that is a reasonably sized market—a big market.”

As Bloomberg reported on February 10, Apple was more conservative when it came to adding staff over the pandemic years, increasing its numbers by 20%—in contrast to Alphabet, which added 60% and has laid off over 12,000 workers, and almost a full 100% increase at Amazon, which has also cut staff, including 18,000 this year.

Money, it’s a gas. Questions remain about Apple’s ability to maintain spending levels on internal projects.

As Shannon Cross, an analyst with Credit Suisse Group, told Bloomberg, any decision Apple comes to is likely far off. And given the company’s reputation for secrecy, it’s anyone’s guess as to when that comes down.

“Apple is frugal by nature,” Cross said. “It comes down to the management’s stewardship of shareholder dollars and a tight focus on what growth opportunities to invest in.”

On the other hand, Apple has a lot to look forward to. As IT Brew reported in October 2022, the company is moving into the ad space with its own demand side platform, a move that’s expected to upend the online advertising space and potentially generate even more capital for the world’s biggest company by market cap.—EH

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