Apple to Add 20,000 Jobs as Rivals Cut Staff

Apple plans to add about 20,000 jobs over the next four years, the company announced in early 2025. The hiring pledge comes as major technology firms have disclosed large-scale workforce reductions.

Labor consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that technology companies led all industries in layoffs in 2025, with 154,445 job losses out of 1.2 million total announcements. The trend continued into 2026, with 52,050 cuts in the first three months of the year, about a 40% increase from the same period in 2025. Companies including Meta, Microsoft, Oracle and Amazon disclosed significant staff reductions.

Company and industry sources say Apple kept hiring and capital spending cautious under CEO Tim Cook, which helped limit the need for layoffs. Apple reported $4.3 billion in capital spending for the first half of its fiscal year ending March 28.

Other technology firms have announced much larger AI-related capital plans. Microsoft plans about $190 billion in spending for the year, up from roughly $88 billion in 2025, mainly for Azure AI, OpenAI systems and data centers. Meta raised its full-year spending outlook to $125 billion to $145 billion from a prior $115 billion to $135 billion range, citing higher component and data center costs.

Investor Ross Gerber criticized Apple’s approach earlier this year, saying the company had “completely missed the AI boat.” Brookings researcher Mark Muro noted that Apple traditionally moves at its own pace and has not been at the front of the AI rush, and he questioned whether that approach could affect the company’s future position in AI.

Apple launched a Manufacturing Academy in the United States as part of a broader $600 billion investment plan. The company held a Spring Forum at Michigan State University in East Lansing where Apple engineers and university experts met with manufacturers. More than 150 U.S. businesses have completed the free training, which now includes online classes. Katie Runyon, who leads technical training at a Michigan medical-equipment firm that attended, said the academy “gave her team useful tools they could use right away on the work floor.”

Separately, Apple agreed to pay $250 million to settle a federal class-action lawsuit in California that alleged the company overstated certain AI features on iPhones. Owners of iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models purchased between June 2024 and March 2025 are eligible for payments ranging from $25 to $95. Apple did not admit wrongdoing; a company spokesperson stated the suit concerned two features among many AI tools the company has released.

Apple’s hiring pledge comes as the broader technology industry adjusts head counts and capital plans in response to changes in advertising, cloud services and AI investment.