Apple: The Solely Massive Tech Large Going In opposition to the Job Cuts Tide

Initially revealed 26 January 2023.

???? Hello, that is Gergely with a bonus, free challenge of the Pragmatic Engineer E-newsletter. We cowl one out of seven subjects in at present’s subscriber-only article going deep in analyzing Google’s historic job cuts. For those who’re not but a full subscriber, you missed the problem on Code deployment freezes this week. To get full points twice per week, subscribe here.

Over the previous months, all main tech corporations have introduced layoffs. Nonetheless, there’s one exception, which additionally occurs to be the world’s most precious firm by market cap: Apple.

Apple has not laid off workers throughout any of the final two tech recessions, and has resisted doing so, even now. In 2001, when the Dotcom Bust hit, Amazon’s income declined by 13% and it responded by lowering headcount by 13%. Within the subsequent two years, Amazon nonetheless diminished its headcount:

Apple, nonetheless, didn’t reply in the identical technique to the Dotcom Bust. Regardless of a serious income drop, the corporate saved hiring:

In 2009, Microsoft noticed a dramatic progress slowdown from 17% income progress in 2008 to three% income contraction in 2009. Microsoft let go about 6% of workers – 5,000 individuals. Equally, in 2009, Apple’s income progress slowed to fifteen% from 56% the earlier yr. Apple slowed hiring, however executed no cuts.

And Apple has additionally resisted layoffs when its income progress turned unfavourable, in latest occasions. In 2016, the tech big posted an 8% decline in income, however nonetheless did no layoffs.

Wanting again on the previous 20 years, it’s outstanding that Apple has been the one main tech firm to not execute mass layoffs, no matter how its income or earnings modified. The final time Apple made vital job cuts was when Steve Jobs returned to the corporate as CEO in 1997 and cut 4,100 jobs from the about 14,000 workers the corporate had on the time.

The corporate resisted rising shortly when all different Massive Tech corporations began to rent sooner. One other attention-grabbing perception comes from taking a look at how shortly tech corporations have been hiring over the previous few years. I crunched the numbers to see how quickly every enterprise expanded and located that Apple has been the Massive Tech that resisted progress probably the most. Right here’s the comparability of headcount progress of Google, Meta, Microsoft and Apple, and the way their profitability modified over the identical time interval:

In analyzing why Google did its historic job cuts I beforehand pointed to the connection that each Microsoft and Google laid individuals off after worker headcount progress raced forward of income progress. Let’s check out what’s occurred at Apple since 2011, when Tim Prepare dinner turned the CEO of the corporate:

Apple has been remarkably steady in rising its headcount at a relentless fee, regardless of revenue fluctuation. Much more curiously, the corporate didn’t develop headcount in 2020-2022 as quick as a lot of the remainder of Massive Tech did.

I requested a long-time, present, Apple software program engineer what they thought of Apple’s technique of not rushing up recruitment from 2020 onwards. This particular person mentioned that they really feel virtually all groups at Apple are understaffed and have needed to be taught to do extra with fewer individuals. This software program engineer additionally shared that when the market was very heated in 2021 and “the good resignation” was in full power, Apple didn’t cave into the upper affords, nor match the excessive affords different Massive Tech corporations had been making.

Though it’s not seen within the chart above, in 2020-2021 Apple appears to have achieved much more hiring than in “regular” years, as a result of it was backfilling for higher-than-normal attrition, as extra individuals jumped ship to different corporations for higher compensation. Additionally, I’m instructed that in 2021 some groups struggled to fill allotted headcount. What felt painful in 2020-21: not matching Massive Tech affords, not growing the tempo of hiring, now appears like a sensible transfer within the present circumstances. I analyzed the highly regarded 2021 job market in-depth on the time within the deep-dive The perfect storm causing an insane tech hiring market.

In a small scoop: at the least a few positions Apple was hiring for had been closed on Friday, 20 January. I talked with a software program engineer who was on the fourth spherical of a five-round interview course of (recruiter display screen; two technical interviews; a techniques design interview; hiring supervisor). This engineer was scheduled to have their techniques design interview when their recruiter mentioned that the place had been closed.

I requested round at Apple and didn’t discover proof that this closing of positions was widespread. A number of groups are nonetheless hiring. As with the whole lot at Apple, engineers and managers have little visibility past their fast groups, so it’s onerous to attract wider conclusions from a couple of knowledge factors.

Though it’s onerous to foretell the longer term, the whole lot I’ve realized about Apple means that there appears to be little threat within the firm deciding on widespread cuts. That is each due to its historical past of not doing layoffs even when income contracted, and in addition as a result of Apple didn’t fall into the lure of over-hiring through the previous few years.

This was one out of the 5 seven subjects in at present’s full article on Google’s historic job cuts. The total version moreover covers:

See Also

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1. Google’s sudden and surprising cuts. In an electronic mail despatched out at 2am Pacific time, the corporate terminated 6% of its workforce. “Stunned” doesn’t sum up how numerous individuals processed the information.
2. Earlier warning indicators. Wanting again, there have been indicators that cuts might occur, even when they had been onerous to note.
3. Why did the layoffs actually occur? Google will shut the yr with greater than $66B of revenue, it is the second-best yr ever. Why make cuts on the again of one other very profitable yr? We do an intensive comparability with Microsoft’s discount in its workforce. There are simply too many similarities between the 2 corporations.
4. Areas impacted, areas secure, and severance funds. The cuts weren’t evenly distributed and a few teams had been hit tougher than others. I’ve talked with Googlers to seek out out which teams had been which.
5. Google’s “relaxation and vest” notion shattered? For near a decade, Google was often called a spot with nice work-life-balance, nice compensation, and nice job stability. How will this notion change?
6. The massive image. It’s not all gloom and doom: Massive Tech has grown very a lot in 2022, even when taking the cuts under consideration. And a few areas look to be safer from future reductions than others.

Read it here.

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