(FreedomBeacon.com)- The New York Post reported last week that to avoid the bad publicity that comes with cutting costs through mass layoffs, Apple has begun to sever ties with hundreds of its outside contractors instead.
Big tech corporations have been on a massive layoff spree in recent months, with Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft cutting tens of thousands of workers.
Rather than go the same route, it appears that Apple is taking a more “stealthy” approach, according to the New York Posts On the Money.
According to sources who spoke with the Post, last week, Apple began canceling contracts with hundreds of the outside contractors that work alongside Apple employees on various projects but aren’t technically employed by Apple.
Rather than let existing contracts expire after 12 or 15 months, the iPhone maker is simply cutting its outside contractors loose early, sources told the Post.
One contractor who spoke to the Post said he was blindsided by the move, adding that management at Apple had previously assured him that everyone’s job was safe. Just weeks before getting cut loose, some contractors were boasting that Apple didn’t make the mistake of overhiring the way other tech companies did, the source told the Post.
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, previously said layoffs would be a “last resort kind of thing.” But according to company insiders, Apple views getting rid of contractors not as layoffs, but as a cost-cutting measure.
The benefit of cutting contractors loose is that it allows Apple to cut the workforce without having to pay severance or face the risk of wrongful termination lawsuits from fired employees.
While Apple has not disclosed the number of contractors it has in its workforce, previous reports indicated that the total could be in the thousands as Apple contracts with three dozen staffing firms that supply workers for project management, launch events, and creating Apple Maps.
