Apple went public in 1980, Google went public in 2004. Apple has seen many more cycles than Google and Amazon. I'd suggest they're a little more gelled out?
Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
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Re: Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm guessing Google and Facebooks profit centers are much more narrow? Eg. Google Ads. Facebook has the Metaverse Black Hole whereas has Googles countless endeavours (eg. Chat)
If this were about cutting unprofitable divisions rather than cutting people/wages then the Metaverse would probably have been killed. Still kicking.
lol only time will tell since they basically went all-in. Do they change the name back to Facebook if they start reversing course? :P
Re: Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most layoffs are happening in growth businesses that aren’t even profitable on paper. Apple, make things, things people want and quite often need. they are a solid business that are unlikely to suffer much in a short term tightening of people’s finances interest rate rises.
> Most layoffs are happening in growth businesses that aren’t even profitable on paper. Google? Facebook? Microsoft? All very profitable, all doing layoffs.
> on paper
This is the important word. Although Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft overall are profitable there are parts of it that a) was (and still not profitable) and b) was in demand in the last three years but are now softened enough that it turns "okay, unprofitable but manageble" into "this has become a money pit". Since that they are cutting off anyway, why not throw laggards and undesirables into the mix? I estimate that around half is genuine cost-savings and another half is euphemistic firing, which I'll be honest muddies the explanation up a bit.
For Google, their focus was on the cloud and productivity products. Even discounting the already-planned Stadia layoffs, it is well-known that Google has targeted 2023 as its Google Cloud break-even point. If they can't profit on user acquisition then they need to cut up costs. This is why they're now aggressive on closing up GCP products so that the core GCP product can be operated with less expense. Additionally, their Workspace and ChromeOS team were also gutted because the Chromebook boom induced by the pandemic is now over (will expand over at Microsoft's explanation).
Microsoft's cuts are also focused on productivity suites. The boom times for PCs is over so they need to cut costs there, and it shows hard. Both the Windows and 365 subteams were gutted further since that companies have now time to actually count up how many licenses they need, plus since Windows 11 is "free" the only revenue is from OEMs and business. OEMs now buys fewer licenses because the boom times is over. Businesses are not thrilled at Windows 11 and are secretly waiting for a Windows 12 or a 10 ESU. Azure is now slightly profitable but as you might have guess "slight" is unacceptable to shareholders so some were also let go too.
Meta no longer grows in its traditional business in social media and fails to crack the secret to an enjoyable metaverse, with most people passing it off as a fad and even metaverse believers flocking to competitors that were already there and have better products. It's plain obvious why they need to reduce headcount.
Re: Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
So you're saying Apple isn't a well run company because they haven't properly managed their regulatory risk around the app store? What should they do hire more lobbyists? Not have built a $100 billion/year business because of a vague threat of future regulatory change? We've seen pushback on the 30% but mostly for a select group of major companies who want to offer alternative payments. The majority of apps aren't go…
I'm saying they have over-extended to the point where they are begging for regulation. Much wiser to not over-extend to the point where regulators are pissed off. Now they could lose it all instead of having a more reasonable rate. At this point they should self-regulate, like any misbehaving child who realizes they are in the wrong should before they get punished. It's not a risk and it's not going to hurt their sto…
So what should they have done? Conceded to a group of Epic type companies on a VIP-type basis so regulators don't eat their lucrative subscription model? Without bigco lobbying the gov I doubt there'd be as much regulatory pressure. So the best bet might have been to work with the major companies hiring lobbyists and getting PR.
Rumour is Apple is opening up side-loading so the "walled garden" thing might be neutered.
Not sure what other regulatory risks they have.
Re: Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
#115You mean to tell me that Apple could have created thousands of high paying jobs, if only for several years, but didn’t. And this is good? I can never remember who to be mad at. More seriously, I realize this is just clickbait, but I wonder how you could determine objectively which approach (hiring slow and needing to catch up, hiring medium, hiring fast and needing to fire) is “better for business”. Seems very hard t…
Hiring many people and firing them shortly after isn't very productive use of human minds. Those people were doing probably something more valuable instead.
Re: Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
#116Apple got burned bad the last time they were caught organizing a wage fixing cartel: https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-tech-jo... It's different this time around though, because economy. The tech layoffs started at the least profitable companies with the weakest balance sheets first (Google, Microsoft), and besides the whole economy is doing massive layoffs because of the recession and high interes…
>and besides the whole economy is doing massive layoffs
Although last week the US announced an unexpectedly strong jobs report, roughly 80% higher jobs growth than expected. (180,000 projected, 300,000 actual iirc).
Re: Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
#117> Apple, meanwhile, was more cautious. Its headcount increased just 20% from 2020 to 2022 At Apples size this is still pretty huge. At least, I thought it was until I saw that Amazon, Meta and Salesforce basically DOUBLED in 2 years. If this data is correct isnt that insane? How can you effectively double orgs of this size over a 2 year period? Its not like a startup with 50 people or something. I guess I was out of…
Growing too fast is damaging to both culture and productivity. You have a bunch of people starting that are still learning. Depending on the job and the person it can take a full year to be fully competent in a job. Apple was smart to move slower. They are probably one of the best run companies in the world.
"I think Apple is one of the strong companies and will stay a strong company, I think it's ungodly well-managed." - Charlie Munger
Re: Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
#118> Apple, meanwhile, was more cautious. Its headcount increased just 20% from 2020 to 2022 At Apples size this is still pretty huge. At least, I thought it was until I saw that Amazon, Meta and Salesforce basically DOUBLED in 2 years. If this data is correct isnt that insane? How can you effectively double orgs of this size over a 2 year period? Its not like a startup with 50 people or something. I guess I was out of…
Growing too fast is damaging to both culture and productivity. You have a bunch of people starting that are still learning. Depending on the job and the person it can take a full year to be fully competent in a job. Apple was smart to move slower. They are probably one of the best run companies in the world.
"Depending on the job and the person it can take a full year to be fully competent in a job."
Some of us never become competent.
Re: Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
To help bring the next paradigm in computing interfaces. I don’t understand why people have forgotten all of the sci-fi movies that have been showing what’s possible
Ah yes. Sci fi movies that have to show flashy special effects that would never work this way in real life: from headache-inducing colors and animation to having to hold your hands up fir an extended period of time to do the simplest things to see-through interfaces.
My memory of the Nintendo 3DS says those flashy special effects look way cooler and more physical in 3D when you can see the depth in those particle fields. But I'm sure they get even more expensive to make.
Re: Apple avoids job cuts because it didn’t overhire like Google and Amazon
#120> Apple, meanwhile, was more cautious. Its headcount increased just 20% from 2020 to 2022 At Apples size this is still pretty huge. At least, I thought it was until I saw that Amazon, Meta and Salesforce basically DOUBLED in 2 years. If this data is correct isnt that insane? How can you effectively double orgs of this size over a 2 year period? Its not like a startup with 50 people or something. I guess I was out of…
Was there any federal program that encouraged hiring at these large corporations as part of the COVID bills?