United States: Apple Inc. has put a hold on hiring a large number of positions outside research and development, according to people with knowledge of the situation, accelerating current plans to cut the budget next year.

The company took action last month, ahead of the quarterly earnings report, which predicted growth would slow over the holiday season.

Those who asked to remain anonymous because the decision was private said the pause generally doesn't apply to long-term projects and teams working on future devices, it is used for certain corporate tasks and standard hardware and software engineering roles. affects.

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In response to weak consumer spending and rising interest rates, Apple joined with other tech giants in putting the brakes on hiring. Even though the iPhone maker has outperformed many of its tech rivals this year, the industry-wide slowdown for smartphones and computers still poses a problem for it.

Apple claimed in a statement that although it is still hiring, "we are taking a very deliberate approach to certain parts of the business given the current economic environment." The business also expressed its confidence in Apple's future.

The Cupertino, California-based business said, “We want to be thoughtful and make intelligent decisions that enable us to drive innovation over the long run.

Shares of Apple, which were trading late on Thursday, fell 1% to US$137.55 after Bloomberg News reported on the plans. Shares are down 22% this year as part of a bigger decline in tech stocks.

According to People, Apple continues to post new job openings on its recruitment website and some teams within the company are still allowed to make exceptions for hiring. Though there are still open positions, the recruitment process has been put on hold to a large extent.

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The action is part of a larger initiative to control budgets, avoid backfilling positions, and slow workforce growth for some teams over the next year.

The push was first covered by Bloomberg News in July. Apple laid off about 100 contract-based recruiters in August as part of budget-cutting measures. An insider said this week that the company is currently implementing a hiring freeze.

According to Apple's fourth-quarter report, its research and development budget is not being cut. In FY 2022, R&D spending grew by 20% as compared to 17% a year ago. The business is still developing autonomous vehicles as well as future augmented- and virtual-reality products.

The increase in R&D spending, according to a filing by Apple accompanying its earnings report, was "primarily driven by increased headcount-related expenses and engineering program costs." Overall operating costs increased 17%.

The slowdown in hiring extends far beyond Apple. On Thursday, Amazon.com Inc. announced that it has stopped hiring for corporate positions due to the "precarious" state of the economy.

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Twitter Inc. is preparing for job cuts following the acquisition of Elon Musk, while Life Inc., Chime Financial Inc., and Stripe Inc. are also laying off employees.