Tim Cook says mass layoffs at Apple ‘last resort, not something…’
- The iPhone maker reported a net profit of $24 billion and revenue of $94 billion in the April quarter of FY23.
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Tech giants including Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp, Amazon, Twitter, Meta among other have cut thousands of jobs since last year. Amid fear of layoffs, CEO Tim Cook has said that layoffs at Apple will be made only as a 'last resort.'
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In an interview with CNBC, Cook said, “I view that as a last resort and, so, mass layoffs is not something that we’re talking about at this moment." However, the possibility of layoffs was not ruled out. The CEO also said that they are being extremely prudent on hiring. He, however, added that the company is cutting costs and has slowed down on hiring.
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“We’re continuing to be extremely prudent on hiring. We’re continuing to hire, just at a lower clip level than we were before," Cook told CNBC. “And we’re doing all the right things of challenging the things that we spend, and we’re just finding a few more ways to save on it."
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According to CNBC, one of the main reason why Apple is currently at a better position than its rivals might be the slowdown on hiring during the Covid pandemic.
Earlier in April, people with knowledge of the matter had told Bloomberg that the company is eliminating a small number of roles within its corporate retail teams. Those groups were responsible for the construction and upkeep of Apple retail stores and other facilities around the world.
In March, popular Apple analyst – Mark Gurman said that ‘Apple is pulling every lever it can to cut costs enough to avoid laying off full-time employees’. In his edition of its Power On newsletter, he had said that ‘Apple’s top executives are seen as some of the most tactical minds in the industry. He had also added that the company reined in budgets across several teams and required senior vice president approval for more items. In some cases, the company had also limited the ability for employees in both corporate and retail to transfer to other departments or stores, a process that typically has accompanying costs. Apple also reduced the travel budgets. As per the newsletter, trips required the approval of senior executives while for some departments, travel has been halted completely other than for business-critical reasons, as per the newsletter.
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Meanwhile, the iPhone maker reported a net profit of $24 billion and revenue of $94 billion in the April quarter of FY23. Company's boosted iPhone sales helped it in witnessing impressive quarterly results. Apple's iPhone sales jumped by 1.5 percent to $51.33 billion. After unlocking its profit margins with iPhone, the company still needs to focus on Mac sales as it reported a fall of more than 30 percent in the previous quarter. Mac sales stood at $7.17 billion. Sales in wearables business, which includes devices like AirPods and the Apple Watch, also fell less than 1 percent to $8.76 billion. “We are pleased to report an all-time record in services and a March quarter record for iPhone despite the challenging macroeconomic environment," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in an earnings release. Keeping its last year plan intact, Apple also announced shares buyback plans worth $90 billion. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 4 percent to 24 cents a share.
(With inputs from agencies)
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