Apple has been conspicuously absent from the mass firings that have plagued the tech world of late, and the reason is simple: they didn’t over-hire during the pandemic.

Data compiled by Bloomberg shows that over the past three years, Apple hired much more cautiously than its competitors, avoiding the pandemic-fuelled hiring blitz that has resulted in the current fallout.

Apple increased its headcount by just 19.7 per cent between 2019-2022.

By comparison, Microsoft — who laid off 10,000 employees last month — increased employees for 53.5 per cent – and even this leap was a lot less brash than the rest.

Alphabet increased headcount by 60 per cent, while Meta and Amazon basically doubled employees, adding 92.4 per cent, and 93.1 per cent respectively.

Alphabet is axing 12,000 employees, Meta let almost 11,000 go, and Amazon cut 18,000.

Salesforce added the most to their teams, with workers increasing 104.3 per cent during the hiring blitz, resulting in 7,000 layoffs late last year.

Analysts aren’t surprised by Apple’s more measured approach to pandemic hiring.

“Apple is frugal by nature,” Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Shannon Cross told Bloomberg.

“It comes down to the management’s stewardship of shareholder dollars and a tight focus on what growth opportunities to invest in.”