As the technological world continues to move forward at an alarming pace, companies are forced to make difficult decisions in order to stay afloat. One of the most common cuts made by these businesses is in the workforce- with job losses becoming more and more common as we progress into what seems like an always demanding future. In such a competitive environment, it can be hard for those who have lost their jobs to get back on their feet and return to work in a timely manner. However, with the help of support groups and other resources, many individuals are able to overcome this obstacle. It’s important that they oftentimes have access to those resources in order to ensure they have every chance at finding new employment as soon as possible- regardless of how long it may take.
The most recent layoffs in the tech industry have spotlighted Apple, which according to some reports has eliminated 2% of its global workforce since last fall. In the past, Apple has typically been one of the more reluctant companies to sack employees, preferring to lay off slowly over time. However, with sales stagnant and expectations for future growth decreasing, it appears that changes are afoot at Cupertino.
The last time Apple laid off 4,100 employees was way back in 1997 when then-CEO Steve Jobs returned to take the reins. In the years since, Apple has been fairly stable and hasn’t had to go through a large round of layoffs like that. It’s worth noting that this is the first time they’ve done so in almost two decades though, so it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
With so many companies looking for talent, it makes sense that layoffs occur when an organization can no longer find the employees they need. This problem becomes increasingly difficult to solve as businesses grow and their employment needs change. Often, businesses will overhire in order to save money in the short term, but this can create a number of problems down the road. For one thing, overhired employees may become complacent and unwilling
In the days leading up to the layoffs, the company was hit hard by a number of departures. With so few employees left, many of their jobs were redundant or no longer needed
One employee growth trend that is seeing strong growth in the United States is the influx of young professionals into the workforce. According to recent numbers from Macrotrends, companies across all sectors are benefitting from this trend, as they are able to attract and retain top talent with greater ease. This increased
As the economy slowed throughout 2022, companies such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook began layoffs in their employee base. These companies had all seen significant growth during the height pandemic between 2020 and 2022, but as the economy slowed these companies made a correction by cutting back on their employee base. The massive layoffs have caused a significant depression in each of these industries and has ultimately led to a decrease in overall GDP.
If Apple sticks with its modest hiring pace, it is unlikely to experience large layoffs in the near future. This could be due to the company’s smaller employee base, or a more conservative approach when it comes to adding new employees. Neither of these factors are definite indicators that layoffs are imminent, but they do hint at a less aggressive organizational culture at Apple.
Apple is notorious for secrecy with their personnel moves, so it’s difficult to say whether this was a precursor to larger layoffs or not. With the company reportedly adding 5,000 jobs in the last quarter of 2017, it seems as though Apple may have been stretched too thin at various levels. Hiring has slowed down recently relative to previous years, but that could just be due to a general hiring freeze within many sectors. As long as Jobs & Co. are able to keep churning out record-breaking products and maintaining revenue growth this layoff may go unnoticed by most consumers.
Apple’s hiring freeze is causing some employees to feel disgruntled. Many of the employees who are affected by the freeze are unhappy because they’re not able to find anything else that they’re interested in doing, and many have been looking for jobs for months without success. Others who are exempt from the freeze, such as salespeople, are feeling more pressure to recruit new customers because they’re not getting any new opportunities themselves.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been fairly tight-lipped about the company’s overall hiring and firing plans, but the shifting economic climate and overall uncertainty heading into the new year may have played a large part in driving the job cuts thus far. Apple has avoided layoffs as a tool to this point, but it’s possible that pressure is mounting to make some sensible changes amid heightened competition from other technology companies.
At Apple, the layoffs have continued. This week, nine employees were let go from the company’s advertising department. The layoffs come after a series of reductions in recent months at Apple. In December, 25 employees were laid off from a hardware development division; in November, 17 workers were let go from software development and engineering groups; and earlier this month, two ad designers were laid off. The layoffs follow significant cuts that came to other parts of Apple’s workforce last year as well. In February 2017 there were 130 job cuts at the company globally; 145 people lost their jobs in October 2016; and 750 positions went unfilled in August 2016 following a restructuring plan known as Swiftswitch initiated by CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams. Efforts to reduce costs are not new to Apple: since its founding the company has made aggressive decisions about which divisions or products to focus on, often putting them out of business or forcing them into different business models where they no longer generated revenue for shareholders
