• US markets take control of Silicon Valley Bank in biggest banking crisis since 'subprime mortgages'

In recent months, Google has eliminated more than 12,000 jobs. Meta adds 21,000 layoffs. Microsoft, about 10,000. And Apple? So far it boasted of being the only big technology that had not had to cut its workforce. Not anymore. According to Bloomberg, citing internal sources, the economic reality also takes its toll on the iPhone manufacturer and will lay off a small part of its workers in the coming weeks.

The decision comes as a surprise. For about a year now, Apple has tried, like many other companies, to cut costs. The rise in interest rates, inflation and the situation of the debt market are complicating the operations of most technology companies and although Apple's business is solid – in the last quarter it earned about 29,000 million dollars – these headwinds also affect it.

To try to minimize its impact, Apple halted hiring new employees months ago and has also cut spending on travel and outside partners. Unlike companies like Meta or Google, which added thousands of employees to their workforce, Apple was also very conservative with new hires during the pandemic years, which has helped take some of the pressure off.

The measures appeared to be working and layoffs, said Tim Cook, the company's president, would be the "last resort."

But now plans include eliminating some of the corporate staff dedicated to the stores the company has spread around the world. It is, specifically, the team in charge of opening new stores or renovating existing ones, a division that reports to the executive vice president of retail and people, Deirdre O'Brien.

The number of layoffs has not been made public but is certainly, according to Bloomberg, "much lower" than those of Meta or Google. The company, which has nearly 165,000 employees worldwide, has asked those affected to try to apply for positions that remain vacant within the corporate organizational chart. If they do not get a new position within Apple, they will receive compensation equivalent to four months' salary.

Apple is facing a complex year and not only because of the global economic situation. Everything indicates that in this 2023 the company will launch its first augmented reality glasses, a new product for which there are high internal expectations but, according to several analysts, could have an uncertain future due to the high price that is shuffled for the first model and the lack of enthusiasm among the public for virtual and augmented reality experiences. This is one of the company's biggest bets since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015.

Apple's decision, in any case, confirms the bad situation in which Silicon Valley finds itself and that in a certain way has also precipitated the fall of Silicon Valley Bank, the regional bank that financed about 50% of the startups in the area. After years of exponential growth financed with low interest rates, tech companies now face an uncertain future. Advertising investment, one of the main ways of financing many companies, is falling at great speed and investment funds, which for years have financed the most extravagant ideas now look with magnifying glass at each round of financing.

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