Apple and IBM join Big Tech layoffs
IBMers say cuts are in addition to those announced in January
Both Apple and IBM have started to remove staff, though at a lower rate than contemporaries like AWS, Microsoft and Meta.
Let's start with Apple.
So far the iPhone maker has avoided layoffs, despite growing headcount by tens of thousands over the past five years. Other Big Tech firms have blamed over-recruiting in the pandemic as the main reason for the mass redundancies they are currently enacting.
Instead Apple has preferred to cut costs by other means, for example by ending contractor relationships, delaying bonuses and limiting work travel.
That's not to say that the company has completely avoided criticism. After 18 months of threats, Apple told employees to return to the office three days a week back in February, and has since started tracking badge swipes and issuing warnings to employees who fail to do so.
However, despite its cost-cutting moves, Apple has finally had to bite the bullet and let some staff go. It is cutting a small number of employees in the corporate retail team - that is, workers responsible for the construction and upkeep of its stores and other facilities.
In a note, Apple said affected individuals would be able to reapply for other roles in the company. Those who aren't accepted will receive four months of severance pay.
While the number of employees affected has not been specified, it seems to be a much smaller figure than the tens of thousands Apple's peers have made redundant. Amazon has cut 27,000 staff in two rounds; Google is laying off 12,000; Microsoft and Meta have both cut 11,000 (with more planned) jobs; and Twitter has slashed about 5,000 roles.
Apple and IBM join Big Tech layoffs
IBMers say cuts are in addition to those announced in January
Both Apple and IBM have started to remove staff, though at a lower rate than contemporaries like AWS, Microsoft and Meta.
IBM and Kyndryl synchronise job cuts
The other big news this week is IBM, plus spin-off Kyndryl, both laying off staff.
Kyndryl, formerly IBM's IT services arm and spun off from Big Blue in November 2021, is letting go of employees in marketing, administration, human resources and other "non-core" verticals.
The redundancies are focused on employees in India, where Kyndryl employs about a third of its 90,000 global staff. The company did not say exactly how many would be affected by the move - quantifying it as "a small percentage" in a statement - but did announce that each person would receive two months of severance pay.
As for former parent IBM, the firm is apparently letting go of around 100 people in its North American IT support team in Austin, Texas, in addition to some finance, operations and developer roles, according to sources speaking to The Register.
Although IBM did not specifically comment on the news, it has said that any recent cuts are related to the 3,900 redundancies announced in January.
However, current IBM employees disagree.
"As best we can tell, these are separate and in addition to the 3,900 in January," one source told The Register. They noted that the January cuts mostly targeted EMEA, unlike the newer round.
They added that IBM employees understood that the 3,900 figure had already been hit, "as [January] was review time, and many high performers received negative reviews to get rid of them."
A second source also denied that the recent layoffs were related to the January cuts.
"Roles impacted are entirely unrelated [to the redundancies announced in January] and include IBMs core competencies, including software and hardware development, talent acquisition, and finance and operations, among others."
There's more to the story, though. Rumours have swirled for years about IBM discriminating against older workers when it comes to redundancies - even being sued for the practice last year.
While it doesn't appear that IBM is targeting older individuals with these layoffs, the sources said the company is "hitting a fair amount of high seniority workers (10+ years), which really has the same effect, in practice."
The source added, "With all the lawsuits and negative press on the age issue, it seems they're quietly pivoting to high seniority (read: high salary) employees."