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Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

blog.pragmaticengineer.com

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Re: Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

#81

Post by blululu »

valleyer wrote: post #67
microtherion wrote: post #58

I don't recall whether this was ever stated explicitly, but I always had the impression that this is one of the elements of Apple's strategy that is still driven by the tribal memory of the late 1990s turmoil. Both Steve Jobs and Tim Cook were there at the time, and especially the former (who also had witnessed a 1980s bust) was determined to never be in this position again. So as a consequence: * Apple is hoarding c…

This is all true, but > not nearly as much so as in the pre-iOS times, admittedly deserves better than a parenthetical. Zoom out, and Apple's been on a serious hiring binge for the last decade, from 72,800 employees in 2012 to 164,000 in 2022. (Both numbers include retail; in 2012, 58% were retail, and they don't seem to break it down anymore in 2022.)

The market cap has grown by ~10x in that time and the number of products that the company makes/maintains has also increased a lot in that time (both number of products and total unit volume). Doubling the staff does not seem unreasonable given the obvious increase business.

Re: Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

#82

Post by testfrequency »

sircastor wrote: post #63
daevout wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't think of a company more blatantly engaged in anti-competitive practices than Apple, but I'm glad to see all that unfairly amassed wealth benefitting even the lowest rungs of its corporate hierarchy through the unusual benefit of not being terminated at the drop of a hat. Bravo!

> I can't think of a company more blatantly engaged in anti-competitive practices than Apple In a world where Amazon, Meta, Google, Wal-Mart, Time-Warner, Comcast, etc exist, you think Apple is the most anti-competitive?

Maybe ask the Vape companies or any developers who had their apps cloned what they think?

Re: Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

#83

Post by arthurcolle »

sircastor wrote: post #63
daevout wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't think of a company more blatantly engaged in anti-competitive practices than Apple, but I'm glad to see all that unfairly amassed wealth benefitting even the lowest rungs of its corporate hierarchy through the unusual benefit of not being terminated at the drop of a hat. Bravo!

> I can't think of a company more blatantly engaged in anti-competitive practices than Apple In a world where Amazon, Meta, Google, Wal-Mart, Time-Warner, Comcast, etc exist, you think Apple is the most anti-competitive?

Yes, I am not OP but obviously they are more anti-competitive if ONLY for their killing off support for progressive web apps over the last 3 or 17 releases of iOS/Safari

Re: Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

#84

Post by senttoschool »

kaashif wrote: post #22
CGamesPlay wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And is managed by a CEO who is choosing not to lay off workers. Are you saying that Apple is wrong to not do layoffs? You can go express that with your votes in the investor meeting, that you don’t want Apple to be the star in these PR pieces about being a great employer who doesn’t lay off employees.

I read their comment as implying that Apple should distribute that cash pile to investors through buybacks or dividends. I don't know what about their comment implies they want layoffs.

I'm implying that Apple's cash pile belongs to investors and shareholders. Part of that money is used to pay employees. However, that cash pile is not a charity for employing workers that is no longer needed at the company.

Re: Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

#86

Post by KerrAvon »

azinman2 wrote: post #76
tempnow987 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google was doing Fuchsia. SUPER cool... but what is the business case there? They are also ham strung by just not listening to customers it feels like - so I think that impacts traction. You get an 80% solution with simple glaring edges. Thousands ask - please fix this edge, but whoever is driving the product is onto something else it feels like sometime. Apple's main product lines all seem to make money, have positi…

My understanding with Fuchsia was to do better than Linux/Android in terms of security, scalability, and adaptability across devices. Why wouldn't they want to own a great OS full-stack? It's part of their bread & butter.

Sure, but they’re not treating it that way. They simply don’t seem to care about it much.

Re: Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

#87

Post by arthurcolle »

xvector wrote: post #80
sircastor wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can't think of a company more blatantly engaged in anti-competitive practices than Apple In a world where Amazon, Meta, Google, Wal-Mart, Time-Warner, Comcast, etc exist, you think Apple is the most anti-competitive?

In a world where when Apple puts a dialogue on your phone, that when they try track you with ads, they ask "allow us to enhance your experience?" whereas when other companies try to track you, they ask "allow to track you across apps and websites?" In a world when you can't even hint at the existence of a payment mechanism outside the App Store to get subscriptions? It's not the most anticompetitive but it's definite…

They single handedly killed PWA in iOS, they should get split up just for that

Re: Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

#88

Post by testfrequency »

Working at Apple is the equivalent of working for Target in the US.

Good brand image, everything appears great on surface, employees all appear homogeneous - however..the internal feuds, dislike for leadership, and cost cutting measures make it completely miserable to work at.

I’m still of the belief Apple probably should do layoffs, but won’t. Pandemic has not been kind to their profits either, but Tim will take the salary cut just to take the good PR.

Re: Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

#89

Post by asdff »

microtherion wrote: post #58

I don't recall whether this was ever stated explicitly, but I always had the impression that this is one of the elements of Apple's strategy that is still driven by the tribal memory of the late 1990s turmoil. Both Steve Jobs and Tim Cook were there at the time, and especially the former (who also had witnessed a 1980s bust) was determined to never be in this position again. So as a consequence: * Apple is hoarding c…

Why does apple hoard cash instead of buy back their stock? 5 years ago they had 90 billion cash in hand. If they put that into their stock then, It would be up at least 260% by now even with the losses last year, then if they need cash they could just take a loan against the stock.

Re: Apple: The only big tech giant going against the job cuts tide

#90

Post by KerrAvon »

marricks wrote: post #27
ojbyrne wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Today: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS50146623

Large drop in their biggest sector is a reason for layoffs when they’ve historically never done it.

Who would Apple lay off? They don’t hire people for the sake of keeping people around. Apple teams are lean, and manager count is held to the minimum necessary.
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