Apple cutting costs with bonus payment changes, hiring freeze

Apple's efforts to cut costs has led it to extend its hiring freeze into more areas, a report claims, as well as making changes to how it doles out promotions and bonuses to employees.

While other major names in tech are performing mass layoffs, such as Meta's massive offloading of staff, Apple has tried to minimize how many people it lets go. Though it has worked so far, the iPhone maker seems to be preparing to take more steps to reduce its outlay.

According to a number of people with knowledge of the situation speaking to Bloomberg, Apple is expanding its cost-cutting efforts in a number of ways.

One way to streamline finances that the company plans is to cut down on the number of times a year it performs bonus payouts from twice a year to just once. While this will vary between divisions, the trend will be eliminating the April payment in favor of just an October one.

Despite reducing the number of payment instances, employees are still expected to get their full bonus entitlement for the year.

Along with bonus changes, Apple is also going to refine its existing policies over a hiring freeze. Apple has already been slowing down its hiring practices since 2022, with the company deciding to leave positions unfilled when employees exit to reduce the headcount.

Under Tuesday's report, it seems the policy will now apply to more areas of the company, and therefore more jobs.

At the time of the November reports, an Apple spokesperson insisted the company was continuing to hire but was taking a "very deliberate approach in some parts of the business."

16 Comments

InspiredCode 8 Years · 405 comments

About 1 year ago

I'm trying to understand how moving from two bonuses a year to one bonus that is twice as big saves any money.... Apple earns an extra 6 months of interest on the spring bonuses? Maybe there is an accounting benefit to paying bonuses later in the year? Less paperwork? Employees forced to work in an office might quit before getting their bonus? I don't get it... This is hardly National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...

macxpress 16 Years · 5913 comments

I fail to see how taking a company like Apple which has record profits doesn't just keep going status quo. It's not like they cannot afford it. I'm glad Apple isn't following suit and being ridiculous in laying people off because they "think" a recession is coming at some point but it would be nice to see them just not putting extra profits over keeping employees happy.

Stabitha_Christie 3 Years · 582 comments

InspiredCode said:

I'm trying to understand how moving from two bonuses a year to one bonus that is twice as big saves any money.... Apple earns an extra 6 months of interest on the spring bonuses? Maybe there is an accounting benefit to paying bonuses later in the year? Less paperwork? Employees forced to work in an office might quit before getting their bonus? I don't get it... This is hardly National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...

It probably depends on when the bonuses happen. If there are two then I would presume that one is at the six month period and the second is at the end of the year. So If Apple deferrers bonuses from June/July (halfway point) to December/January (end of year) they will pay the same amount but boost their finical numbers for what is a slower time of the year (June/July) and absorb the financial hit in what is the strongest part of the year. It's a shell game but will probably pacify investors?

Rogue01 3 Years · 196 comments

macxpress said:

I fail to see how taking a company like Apple which has record profits doesn't just keep going status quo. It's not like they cannot afford it. I'm glad Apple isn't following suit and being ridiculous in laying people off because they "think" a recession is coming at some point but it would be nice to see them just not putting extra profits over keeping employees happy.

The recession is looming. Inflation at an all time high. And even Apple's operating costs have increased because water, power, natural gas, have all gone up in price. Apple is laying people off through attrition. They are not replacing people that leave. Same as laying people off because they redistribute the work to others and have them take on more work. They just did that when a VP of Design left and those duties are now passed on to someone else and the position not being replaced or filled. So that makes them 'look good' by not publicly announcing layoffs, but the people have to take on more work for the same pay because Apple won't fill the now vacant position. They just eliminate it instead.

sunman42 12 Years · 305 comments

Rogue01 said:

The recession is looming. Inflation at an all time high. And even Apple's operating costs have increased because water, power, natural gas, have all gone up in price. Apple is laying people off through attrition. They are not replacing people that leave. Same as laying people off because they redistribute the work to others and have them take on more work. They just did that when a VP of Design left and those duties are now passed on to someone else and the position not being replaced or filled. So that makes them 'look good' by not publicly announcing layoffs, but the people have to take on more work for the same pay because Apple won't fill the now vacant position. They just eliminate it instead.

——

A recession may be coming, but that’s still TBD.

Inflation is not at an all time high, and hasn’t been (ask any of the boomers around in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s). Rates of inflation have been dropping in the US for the last eight months.

Please don’t spread misinformation.