Apple has fired around 100 contract workers who were responsible for helping recruit people for the company, according to a new report.
Writing for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman reports that the contract-based recruiters were let go last week and were previously "responsible for hiring new employees for Apple."
This latest news comes on the heels of another report from last month that claimed that Apple was hiring fewer people than before. Apple CEO Tim Cook also confirmed that the company would be more "deliberate" about its hiring during a recent earnings call, naming the current economic situation as the reason. “We believe in investing through the downturn,” Cook told analysts during that call. He went on to say that Apple would “continue to hire people and invest in areas, but we are being more deliberate in doing so in recognition of the realities of the environment.”
Rare goings on
As Gurman notes, such a clearing of house is unusual for Apple and it hasn't fired any of the recruiters that are full-time employees — all of those who were let go were contractors. Apple often uses contractors for various roles within Apple, but those people are often left with fewer protections when compared to their full-time counterparts.
Those who were fired were told that they would receive pay and medical benefits for a total of two weeks and any personal belongings would need to be added to a list and emailed to Apple for retrieval. Security badges had already been disabled.
Apple, like other tech companies, continues to take stock at a time when the world is suffering from economic uncertainty brought about by rising inflation and energy costs. Both will likely be factors in the final three months of the year with Apple expected to announce new iPhone 14 handsets as well as Apple Watch and iPad refreshes.
Whether the current situation around the globe will impact sales of future iPhones and other Apple products remains to be seen, however.
