Apple Lays Off 100 Contract-Based Recruiters To Rein In Hiring And Spending: Report

Recruiters, across many regions, including at Apple’s offices in Texas and Singapore, were let go

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook confirmed during Apple’s earnings conference call that the company would be more "deliberate" in its spending, even as it keeps investing in some areas.

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US tech giant Apple Inc. laid off many of its contract-based recruiters in the past week, quoting sources, news agency Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the move was part of a push to rein in Apple’s hiring and spending.

The sources told the news agency that nearly 100 contract workers were let go in a rare move for the world’s most valuable company. The recruiters were responsible for hiring new employees for Apple, and the cuts underscore that a slowdown is underway at the company.

Recruiters, across many regions, including at Apple’s offices in Texas and Singapore, were let go. The employees laid off were told the cuts were made because of changes in company's current business requirements.

Bloomberg first reported last month that the company was decelerating hiring after years of staffing up, joining many tech companies in hitting the brakes. Apple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook confirmed during Apple’s earnings conference call that the company would be more "deliberate" in its spending, even as it keeps investing in some areas.

“We believe in investing through the downturn,” Cook told analysts. “And so we’ll continue to hire people and invest in areas, but we are being more deliberate in doing so in recognition of the realities of the environment.”

The report mentioned that the tech firm is still retaining recruiters who are full-time employees, and not all of its contractors were fired as part of the move.

The move to terminate workers is unusual for the Cupertino, California-based technology giant, which employs more than 150,000 people. But it’s far from alone in taking such a step.

Recently, Meta Platforms Inc., Tesla Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Oracle Corp. have all fired employees in the wake of economic slowdown.

The report stated that the terminated workers were told they would receive pay and medical benefits for two weeks. When they were laid off, employee badges were disabled and workers were told they would need to email a list of their belongings if they wanted those items to be returned.

Apple previously sacked a large group of contract workers in 2019 in Cork, Ireland. The firm at that time had been relying on several hundred contractors to listen to recordings of Siri conversations to help improve the product. Apple let the workers go as part of scaling down the programme in response to privacy concerns. The company also fired some contractors while working on the Apple Park campus in 2015.

Apple employs contract workers for technical support and customer service. It also uses contractors for localising products and improving its Maps service. Contract workers typically receive fewer benefits than full-time workers and have fewer protections.