Apple ($AAPL) job listings have dropped from a two-year high of 5,099 in March 2018 to 4,291 this week. Since just the first of this month, Apple hiring activity has decreased by 632 positions, or 13% of the total openings, in just three weeks.
This isn't necessarily a bad sign, however. Hiring at Apple tends to be cyclical, with occasional dips in activity. In fact, there was a dip similar in magniture around this time last year, when the company went from more than 4,000 open positions to 3,300 in the space of a month.
The vast majority of openings at Apple are at its Santa Clara Valley headquarters, as can be seen in the graph below.
In fact, openings at Apple's Austin facility where it's focused on microchip engineering has seen a parallel decrease in openings.
Apple is hiring in Santa Clara Valley by far more than any other city with Singapore and Austin distant seconds.
|
City |
Title (Count) |
|---|---|
|
Santa Clara Valley |
2197 |
|
Various |
318 |
|
Singapore |
164 |
|
Austin |
159 |
|
Shanghai (China APO Only) |
106 |
|
Cork |
105 |
|
Herzliya |
95 |
|
Shanghai |
61 |
|
Munich |
55 |
|
London - Hanover Street |
50 |
Based on our two years' of data for Apple hiring activity, it's important to repeat that it's possible and even likely that this slowdown is indeed part of a cyclical trend. In fact, it appears as though the dip began its reversal just yesterday with 69 more positions listed today. As always, we'll keep an eye on it.