Apple CEO Tim Cook today told CNBC that he views mass layoffs as a “last resort,” and said this is not something the iPhone maker is considering right now.
“I view that as a last resort and, so, mass layoffs is not something that we’re talking about at this moment,” said Cook, during the interview.
Cook’s comments come as other major tech firms, including Facebook parent Meta and Google, are dealing with the current economic uncertainty by laying off tens of thousands of employees, after practicing aggressive hiring policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Apple has so far not performed a mass layoff of full-time employees, although it has reportedly laid off some corporate retail employees, has let go of some contract employees, and has pulled back on new hiring for some select roles.
As of September 24. 2022, Apple employed approximately 164,000 full-time employees.
Apple finance chief Luca Maestri said that Apple expects overall revenue in the current quarter to decline about 3%.
“We expect our June quarter year-over-year revenue performance to be similar to the March quarter assuming that the macroeconomic outlook does not worsen from what we are projecting today for the current quarter,” Maestri said on a call with analysts.
Apple’s iPhone sales were the highlight of the second fiscal quarter, as they grew from the year-ago quarter even as the smartphone industry as a whole contracted nearly 15% during the same period, says an IDC estimate.
iPhone revenue grew 2% during the quarter, indicating that the parts shortages and supply chain issues that had plagued the handset for the last few years may finally be easing.
