Apple plans to cut back on hiring after revenue warning

“Apple Inc. will cut back on hiring for some divisions after selling fewer iPhones than expected and missing its revenue forecast for the holiday quarter, according to people familiar with the matter,” Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg.
“Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive officer, made the disclosure to employees earlier this month in a meeting the day after he penned a letter to investors about the company’s recent struggles, particularly in China,” Gurman reports. “During the meeting, Cook was asked if the company would impose a hiring freeze in response. He said he didn’t believe that was the solution. Instead, Cook said some divisions would reduce hiring, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.”
“Cook said he is yet to fully determine which divisions would cut back on hiring, but said that key groups such as Apple’s artificial intelligence team would continue to add new employees at a strong pace. He also emphasized that a division’s importance to Apple’s future isn’t measured by hiring rates,” Gurman reports. “Following Cook’s talk with employees, some Apple senior vice presidents held separate meetings with vice presidents, senior directors and other managers in their groups to emphasize that the iPhone sales slowdown is an opportunity for new innovation, according to one of the people.”
“The missed iPhone sales and reduction in hiring come just months after the iPhone maker became the first U.S. publicly traded company to pass the $1 trillion market capitalization threshold,” Gurman reports. “Since then, Apple has lost almost $300 billion in value.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Good. Take some time to assess everything after years of rampant hiring and growth at such breakneck pace that important things sometimes fell through the cracks. It’s amazing there weren’t more screw ups, actually.
Less Cookish kumbayah and more Jobsian perform-or-pound-sand would be an excellent outcome from the bracing wake-up call Apple’s upper management has received in recent months.
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