In a surprising turn of events, Apple stands out as a beacon of job growth amidst widespread layoffs in the technology sector.
In an effort to uncover hiring trends in the industry, Verdict’s journalists have been closely monitoring job postings and analysing the sector’s recruitment patterns.
By leveraging our advanced Disruptor data, which tracks major deals, patents, company filings, hiring trends, and social media buzz, we shed light on where leading companies are directing their efforts and the reasons behind their choices.
Despite an economic downturn that has forced many of its Big Tech counterparts to resort to mass layoffs, Apple has managed to record a notable 2.3 percent increase in job vacancies from April to July 2023.
During this period, Apple listed a total of 5,966 job openings. This growth is particularly noteworthy considering that the company’s quarterly revenue for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023 saw a three percent year-on-year decline, amounting to $94.8 billion.
Layoffs were not on the table
Addressing the concern of workforce rationalisation during a discussion about the company’s second-quarter earnings with CNBC, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, reassured that mass layoffs were not on the table as an option. He affirmed that such a move would be considered as a last resort.
Remarkably, Apple has stayed true to this commitment and has continued to buck the layoff trend observed among its Big Tech peers, including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon.
Contrasting the job growth trajectory of Apple, it’s worth noting that companies like Amazon, despite laying off up to nine percent of their workforce since November 2022, still displayed resilience with 11,753 job vacancies recorded by GlobalData from April to July 2023.
Looking forward, all eyes are on Apple’s next quarterly results, scheduled to be released on August 3rd. This follows an extraordinary achievement for the company in June 2023, as it became the first publicly traded company to reach a staggering $3 trillion market value at the close of a trading day.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
