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

blog.pragmaticengineer.com

221–230 of 405 posts

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

#221

https://techpp.com/2023/01/25/tech-layoffs-apple-2023/ > Amazon, for instance, hired about 780,000 people during the pandemic. Meta, too, had more than doubled its staff in this period, going from about 40,000 to 87,000. Even Microsoft had hired about 77,000 people just before the pandemic. > Apple, in comparison, is believed to have hired under 20,000 people during the period of the pandemic. Can't layoff people you…

Did the pandemic really increase business so much that they had to hire that many people?

of course not, it's just a bullshit excuse. Just like currently none of the faangs businesses are hurting to the point where they just have to get that couch cushion money from layoffs.

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

#222
The situation changed and in a market economy you can adjust quickly. Not sure what is problem.

This is unlike Twitter where a firm is destroyed and people fired not because of situation but because someone has money to burn. And instead of creating a new firm to compete he just fired people of that firm he did not like.

That is the “good” and “bad” of market system. Sorry but both involved firing people.

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

#223
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon, Meta, Google are most certainly cut from the same cloth, only slightly smaller. For Wal-Mart I can't think of anything strictly anit-competitive, but its practice of paying sub-subsistance wages and counting on government relief programs to make up the difference is so disgusting I don't know how to describe. Time-Warner, Comcast I'm not too familiar with, but as I understand they are under regulations that p…

> but as I understand they are under regulations that prohibit them from dropping your connection when e.g. they find you visiting ycombinatior.com Was that a problem before?

Yes. Frequently.

https://www.freepress.net/blog/net-neutrality-violations-bri...

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

#224
post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Textbook capitalism is a society in which (among other things) companies belong to investors. In other words, when a company bets, it is typically with other people's money. In that case, it's other people's jobs, which extends a bit this textbook case, but not by much. edit Rewritten to take into account sokoloff's remarks, thanks!

Capitalism defines nothing about whether the money invested in a company is yours or other people’s. In practice, it often is, but “in practice” is not nearly the same as “by definition”.

Good point. Edited.

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

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

And what specific employees are unnecessary, which you feel qualified to fire?

I don't feel qualified to fire anyone. I'm just stating how public corporations work.

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

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re both age-old companies as far as Silicon Valley goes, have an artistic streak, and based in the South Bay. They’ve got some similarities.

Also, both names start with ‘a’ and end in ‘e’. (/s, but also making a point…)

They both have 5 letters... I think you're on to something!

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

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is the only one that doesn’t seem to start up hundreds of obviously useless projects. Google will hire thousands to work on an obviously doomed streaming service, to build a new OS, and so many other obviously bad ideas and then just fire them all later. Vanishingly few Apple products seem to be discontinued. Usually after a long life like the iPod.

You wouldn't know about Apple's failed projects. Like other big tech companies, Apple has teams working on R&D and new products. Unlike the other big tech companies, the bar for publicly releasing a new product is extremely high at Apple, and unreleased products are kept secret.

Exactly right. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.

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

#228
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is the only one that doesn’t seem to start up hundreds of obviously useless projects. Google will hire thousands to work on an obviously doomed streaming service, to build a new OS, and so many other obviously bad ideas and then just fire them all later. Vanishingly few Apple products seem to be discontinued. Usually after a long life like the iPod.

Don't they have an Apple Car? Like a literal car they were working on making? I guess that's the exception though. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/12/apple-is-allegedly-work...

Is that useless? Or has it just not been released yet?

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

#229

Apple is a generally more well run, mature, patient, and scrupulous company than most others.

The answer is rather pedestrian: Apple is mostly a hardware company. Apple isn't primarily in e-commerce, streaming or online ads and did not get as big a boost from millions of people suddenly trapped in their homes as other tech companies. Apple was never tempted to overhire, I suspect Apple had the opposite pressure during lockdowns due to its many retail workers seeing fewer customers, while Amazon's warehouses w…

This is the right take ! The pandemic hiring overall was all mostly ‘E-commerce’ driven.

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

#230
post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are over twenty years old with some pushing thirty

Titan is another recent big bet that went nowhere, but so happened to be too big to hide. Who knows gow many other secret dead-end projects they buried.

It was never announced so not comparable to other's dropping projects once they're in the open, and if all we're relying on are rumours and industry analysts, then those still say they're continuing the work on Titan, with a view towards a 2025-2028 launch.
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