So far, Apple has avoided the massive layoffs its competitors are suffering through a series of cost-cutting measures, some of which have been quite harsh.
- What’s happening? According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple managed to avoid mass layoffs by taking a number of cost-cutting measures.
- Why care? Apple wants to avoid firing employees to protect its reputation. In doing so, however, the company may have expressed employee concerns.
- What to do? Read the full report on Bloomberg.
Apple’s cost-cutting measures to avoid mass layoffs
The article suggests that possible layoffs at Apple would tarnish the company’s brand and hurt employee morale, creating a major publicity problem for management as the company is viewed through a different lens than its competitors.
Apple executives are considered to be some of the most tactful minds in the industry. The layoffs would either mean that they made a strategic mistake, or that the global economy is in even worse shape than people feared. In any case, this may affect various industries and economies.
Gurman outlined the following decisions, steps, and policy changes for Apple to weather the economic downturn without laying off thousands of workers:
1. Deferred bonuses
Teams that received bonuses twice a year will receive the entire bonus in October, allowing Apple to “keep that money on hand a little longer.”
2. Budget check
Apple froze budgets for some teams as more items required senior vice president approval.
3. Hiring Freeze
Hiring is either stopped or severely limited, depending on the teams. According to the report, when a person leaves their position, Apple is not fulfilling their role.
4. Restrictions on the transfer of employees
Some corporate and retail employees are prohibited from transferring to other departments.
5. Dismissing recruiters and contracts
Apple fired “many”of its contract recruiters and contractors who helped the company’s engineering teams and other departments.
6. Travel restrictions
Apple has cut its travel budget “significantly”and travel now requires senior management approval. “For some departments, travel has been completely discontinued for the foreseeable future, except for business-critical reasons,” says Gurman.
7. Ensuring office attendance
The work-from-home era has made many Apple employees reluctant to return to their offices. However, employees must show up at Apple Park headquarters on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. According to Gurman, some employees fear that this could signal Apple’s willingness to fire employees who may have problems with the policy.
8. Tighter requirements for retail workers
People working in retail departments are also under pressure, as Apple is now keeping a close eye on attendance and opening hours. Retail workers are worried that Apple could fire them if they can’t work a certain number of hours.
“Some employees also believe that Apple is taking a tougher stance to force employees to quit, saving the company money,”the article says. Forcing employees to quit is a disgusting practice. This is what I expected from dubious companies, not from Apple.
9. Get rid of the “special sick leave”
In some cases, the Cupertino tech giant won’t even replace hours for retail employees who call in sick or are otherwise absent.
The company is also canceling “special sick hours”for time missed due to Covid and asking employees to use regular sick hours instead – or not get paid.
10. Increase in regular shelling
While Apple has managed to avoid massive layoffs, that doesn’t mean jobs are safe. In some cases, Apple did not replace retail workers who left, and others were expected to continue their work. In addition, layoffs for standard reasons have also “increased”.
But what about employee morale?
Apple’s top competitors such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta have already laid off more than 50,000 employees, or almost half of Apple’s corporate workforce.
More mass layoffs could happen in Silicon Valley as the economy continues to suffer from inflation, war in Ukraine, higher interest rates, etc.
Apple could have announced massive layoffs, but chose a different path instead because Gurman says the company “has a reputation for being a stable company that needs to be protected.”
But even with all that said, we believe that some of the iPhone maker’s policies, such as forcing employees to quit or threatening to fire workers who can’t meet certain work-hour quotas, border on corporate bullying.
What happened to treating your employees with dignity and fairness?