How Apple Has So Far Avoided Layoffs: Lean Hiring, No Free Lunches

Author: Editors Desk Source: WSJ:

January 21, 2023 at 07:20

Apple has about 65,000 retail employees working in more than 500 stores who make up roughly 40% of its total workforce. PHOTO: ANGELA WEISS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

The iPhone maker’s workforce grew 20% in the past three years, a far slower pace than rivals

Layoffs have hit the tech industry hard—except at Apple Inc. AAPL 1.92%increase; green up pointing triangle

The world’s largest company has so far avoided the job cuts rippling through peers including Microsoft Corp., Google, Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

No company is certain to avoid significant cutbacks in an economic environment as volatile as the current one, and Apple isn’t immune to the business challenges that have hit other tech giants. It is expected next month to report its first quarterly sales decline in more than three years. Apple has also slowed hiring in some areas.

But the iPhone maker has been better positioned than many rivals to date in part because it added employees at a much slower clip than those companies during the pandemic. It also tends to run lean, with limited employee perks and businesses focused on hardware products and sales that have so far largely dodged the economic downturn, investors say.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

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