How Apple has so far avoided layoff: Lean Hiring, No Free Lunches

Aaron Tiley for WSJ:

How Apple Has So Far Avoided Layoffs: Lean Hiring, No Free Lunches

The iPhone maker’s workforce grew 20% in the past three years, a far slower pace than rivals.

The Wall Street JournalAaron Tilley

From its fis­cal year-end in Sep­tember 2019 to Sep­tember 2022, Apple’s work­force grew by about 20% to ap­prox­i­mately 164,000 full-time em­ploy­ees. Mean­while, over roughly the same pe­riod, the em­ployee count at Ama­zon dou­bled, Mi­crosoft’s rose 53%, Google par­ent Al­pha­bet Inc.’s in­creased 57% and Face­book owner Meta’s bal­looned 94%.

So far, Apple hasn't annouced layoffs of any size. In fact they havent'd done any massive layoffs since 1997 - this was when Steve Jobs returned to a struggling Apple to turn things around and had to lay off 4,100 staff members.

I think Apple has never overhired and looks like their philosphy of building prducts is so ingrained that they tend to hire the right people for the job. It's a good way to remain lean and efficient.