Apple joins tech majors in hiring slowdowns amid recession

US-based Apple Inc. is the latest major technology company to announce that it is 'slowing down on hiring in 2023 to cope with a potential economic downturn'. Not just that, the iPhone maker is also looking to limit expenditures at some of its divisions, according to a report from Bloomberg. 

The news comes days after other tech majors, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and others announced putting a freeze on their hiring and cutting down on their new investment plans. Apple's latest move makes it even clear that even the biggest Silicon Valley firms are becoming cautious of an impending recession in the US.

The Cupertino-based company also said that “the changes won’t affect every team, but some groups won’t see increased staff next year and some positions won’t be backfilled” without sharing more details. 

Apple is likely to release its much-anticipated augmented reality (AR)-mixed reality (MR) headset in January next year, as the buzz around metaverse gains steam. 

Last week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, in a memo to employees, said that the tech major will pause the hiring process for the rest of the year.

The Google executive also indicated that the company will re-deploy resources to higher priority areas and pause ongoing projects during this period, with a warning that “scarcity breeds clarity...”   

Earlier, tech major Meta too announced that it is pausing hiring for several roles across different products warning employees of ‘serious times’. The company also decided to freeze hiring for certain engineering roles, recruiters and low-level data scientists.    

In May this year, Snapchat parent, Snap made a similar announcement on slowing down the hiring process. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in a memo to employees, warning them that hiring would slow down amid an unexpectedly rough quarter.  

Last week, Microsoft too reported laying-off some 1% of the 180,000-person workforce, and a May report by Bloomberg further suggests that “Microsoft will get more cautious about hiring in its Windows and Office divisions, including its Microsoft Teams group”, in the latest sign of companies reassessing their growth plans in response to economic uncertainty.  

More recently, Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud announced that the company would be laying off 6% of its staff even though it had already slowed down hiring.

Other tech majors including Salesforce, Netflix, Twitter, Intel, Lyft, Spotify and Uber, have also recently paused hiring in the midst of cost-cutting pressure and rising inflation, coupled with a looming bear market and rising interest rates.