Apple may be cutting contractors in an effort to slash costs

While Apple may have avoided the significant layoffs that have plagued other Big Tech companies like Amazon and Meta until now, it now seems that the company is quietly cutting ties with contractors.

Mass waves of layoffs have plagued tech giants over the last several months. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, laid off 11,000 employees in November. Amazon laid off 5% of its workforce.

Now, it appears that Apple is making some cuts to its workforce, starting with its independently employed contractors.

Contractors are not technically Apple employees but often work alongside Apple employees on various projects. A typical work contract must be renewed every 12 to 15 months.

However, instead of waiting for contracts to expire, Apple is allegedly firing contractors outright, according to On The Money.

Apple does not disclose the number of contractors that it works with, but the number is likely in the thousands. According to On The Money, insiders claim that contractors say they're treated like second-class citizens. Independent Contractors do not have stock options or health insurance and generally do not work at Apple Park.

Apple has been praised for avoiding mass layoffs in recent times.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has gone on record recently stating that the Cupertino-based company is being very deliberate in its hiring, and only hiring in specific departments.

As a result, the tech giant has avoided the mass redundancies that many prominent technology firms have done.

19 Comments

mikethemartian 18 Years · 1493 comments

About 1 year ago

I worked a contract position for one engineering company that made a point of telling all of us contractors that when they brought in free doughnuts for the employees on Friday mornings that they were only for regular employees and not contractors. It was funny. One of the guys I worked with told me a story that he worked for a large engineering company that had an employee Thanksgiving holiday meal where they told the contractors they weren’t invited, which I found hilarious given the meaning of Thanksgiving.

coolfactor 20 Years · 2342 comments

Contractors are their own company. Why would they expect perks from a client? Are they giving perks to the client?

Xed 4 Years · 2896 comments

coolfactor said:

Contractors are their own company. Why would they expect perks from a client? Are they giving perks to the client?

They can work for themselves or they can work for a company that is contracted with Apple, but let's say they are all independent 1099 employees. I've never once brought in donuts for my department and said that only W2 employees, that 1099 employees could partake. You have to be a real asshole to either do that or think that's appropriate for people all working on the same project or department.

dewme 10 Years · 5775 comments

mikethemartian said:

I worked a contract position for one engineering company that made a point of telling all of us contractors that when they brought in free doughnuts for the employees on Friday mornings that they were only for regular employees and not contractors. It was funny. One of the guys I worked with told me a story that he worked for a large engineering company that had an employee Thanksgiving holiday meal where they told the contractors they weren’t invited, which I found hilarious given the meaning of Thanksgiving.

That's a total douche bag move. Perks like project completion bonuses, use of the company's loge for a sporting event or concert, company sponsored educational seminars, etc., yeah, I can understand excluding contractors. But donuts and a holiday meal? Give me a break. Total dirt bag level pettiness. Contractors are still contributing team members and deserve to be treated with the same dignity, respect, and professionalism as your company colleagues. Some contractors go on to become full time employees. Treating them like dirt as contractors isn't going to ingratiate them your company's culture. The upside is that if you are a exposed to this kind of pettiness as a contractor you'll get to move on to your next contract and leave those douche bags in your rear view mirror.

jimh2 8 Years · 670 comments

The reason you have contractors is for special skills or to supplement existing employees. It gives you an easy way to quickly bring people in and purge without laying off any employees. It’s also a way to test drive roller without having to hire and fire if they do not work out. I have heard of companies using a contractor hiring them in exchange for a negotiated fee. All depends on the agreement.