I don’t think Apple went on a hiring spree like the rest of the tech giants during the pandemic, but there is still time for even Apple to start cutting jobs.
Well, Tim Cook started by halving his compensation.
I didn't hear anything like that from his fellow CEOs who all "took full responsibility" for the choice of going for mass firing instead.
It's always insane to hear about CEOs saying that they take full responsibility, but never resign, donate their money to keep employees around, or anything of the like.
I’m waiting for Zuckerberg and Pichai to say bye bye themselves or keep staff and pay them with their salary + bonuses because they took “full responsibility.”
The CEO is ultimately following the direction of the board though, right? That kind of makes it the board's responsibility. The CEO is just the public whipping boy who goes on TV and is stuck making keynotes.
It was Cook’s suggestion to the board. From the proxy statement:
“The Compensation Committee evaluates and makes compensation decisions prior to the start of each fiscal year. The results of the 2022 Say on Pay advisory vote led to broader shareholder engagement on executive compensation in 2022 of approximately 53% of institutional shares held. The Compensation Committee balanced shareholder feedback, Apple’s exceptional performance, and a recommendation from Mr. Cook to adjust his compensation in light of the feedback received.”
And yet, it's still better than all the other big tech companies, that cut thousands of jobs and did not reduce executive pay in any way.
If cutting the CEO's compensation lets them keep even one regular employee who would otherwise have been laid off, then that's made the world a materially better place, if only for that employee and their family.
