Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Even as the economy wobbles and other tech giants scramble to cut jobs, Apple is doing everything it can to help keep its employees' jobs, March 20. To achieve this goal, the company has been trying to control costs and improve operational efficiency since last summer. Now it seems that the effect is good.

Compared with other big technology companies, Apple seems more reluctant to make large-scale layoffs at Pexels. That's because Apple is far more profitable than other companies, making $30 billion last quarter alone. Apple also has $165 billion in cash reserves and needs to maintain a reputation for stability. In addition, apple has other positive growth factors: the company's share price has risen about 20% so far this year. Just three months later, management is expected to launch the first hybrid reality helmet and operating system, and hopes the platform will lay the foundation for the post-iPhone era.

All this means that Apple's layoffs will do far more damage to morale and public perception than Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Google.

At the same time, Apple executives are seen as the most tactical minds in the industry. The layoffs either mean they have made a strategic mistake or that the global economy is in worse shape than feared. But in any case, it could have a knock-on effect in different industries and economies.

By contrast, one should not be too surprised by the aggressive moves taken by Apple's competitors. Most of these companies hired heavily during the outbreak, which is what Apple is trying to avoid. Meta has made a big bet on meta-universe, spending billions of dollars on this vision, but it hasn't paid off yet. Amazon, Microsoft and Google have also entered markets where the future is still uncertain, and these markets go beyond their core strengths.

In addition, there are many disadvantages beyond the control of technology giants, such as soaring interest rates, currency fluctuations, international conflicts and epidemics. Apple has also been hit hard by these factors, with sales down 5% last quarter and are expected to fall by a similar amount this quarter. But Apple is in a better position to withstand the economic downturn.

Nevertheless, Apple is still trying to control costs and improve operational efficiency. And the process began last summer, ahead of the efforts of many other big companies to cut costs and increase efficiency.

Here are the steps Apple has taken so far to avoid layoffs:

1) Apple announced that it would postpone the payment of bonuses to some teams and changed two payments in the previous year to an one-time payment. The teams will now receive full bonuses in October. Although Apple has included the money in its financial expenses, it can keep the cash on hand for a while.

2) some projects have been postponed until next year, including new home devices such as the HomePod with screens, allowing Apple to allocate its R & D budget to more urgent projects.

3) Apple has controlled the budgets of several teams, and more projects need the approval of the senior vice president to move forward.

4) Apple has completely suspended the recruitment of some teams and severely restricted the recruitment of other teams.

5) when some people choose to leave, Apple will retain these vacant positions instead of hiring them immediately.

6) in some cases, Apple is restricting the transfer of employees to other departments or retail stores, which, after all, is usually accompanied by an increase in costs.

7) Apple laid off many contract workers (part-time employees) last year. In recent weeks, the company has also quietly cut the number of contractors on its engineering team and other teams.

8) the travel budget has been significantly reduced and employees now need to be approved by senior management for travel. For some departments, travel will be completely stopped in the foreseeable future, unless it is for key business reasons.

9) managers need to check attendance, and now Apple employees usually work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Some employees believe that this is a harbinger of the company's dismissal of employees who do not meet the requirements.

10) in the retail sector, Apple is closely monitoring employee attendance and working hours. Many employees are worried that if they fail to meet certain long working hours, they may be fired. Other employees believe that Apple has taken tougher measures to get employees to resign voluntarily, saving the company money.

11) Retail employees also say that in some cases, Apple will not change shifts if they call in sick or are absent for other reasons. The company also canceled "special sick leave" and required employees to use normal sick leave, otherwise they would not be paid.

12) some retail employees say Apple does not always hire people to replace them when they leave. In addition, the number of people leaving their jobs for a variety of reasons seems to be increasing.

While some of these measures make ordinary Apple employees uneasy, Apple's approach is more moderate than that of many companies. In recent months, Apple's main competitors have cut more than 50, 000 jobs, equivalent to nearly half of Apple's workforce.

So far, Apple's measures have worked, with operating expenses well below the company's expectations during the holiday season. The company also expects growth in these costs to slow sharply compared with the same period last year.

But there is no certainty. While Apple seems unlikely to cut large-scale layoffs in the near future, as we have seen over the past three years, the world is as unpredictable as ever. Mr Cook himself has said layoffs would be "a last resort". As an expert in the field of public relations, Cook clearly did not completely rule out layoffs.

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