That would be msft currently.
So yeah, the fact that they are relatively "struggling" and aren't the top company anymore has some relevance.
It would be a different story if they suddenly dropped a magnitude or more, but going from first to second has basically no relevance on the content of the comment. It would have read the exact same if it said “second biggest company”.
Moreover, 600 is a lot of human beings, and it follows a recent trend of tech companies' mass layoffs from which Apple has mostly avoided.
I doubt they have much need for mechanical engineers, drivers, mechanics, etc. Still unpleasant for those laid off, but I like seeing companies take these kinds of risks.
I really wish you and others would not equate layoffs with "trimming fat". It's kind of disgusting, and especially when these huge corps are still full of others doing plenty of non-meaningful work. Plenty of layoffs are illogical and due to internal politics.
It’s absurd to describe this as a mass layoff even relative to the 5,000 people Apple employed for this project alone. If a company can’t lay off a few hundred people after cancelling a major project, we’ve effectively banned it from taking risks.
It’s clearly being criticised. If a culture rejects a company hiring five thousand and taking a bet with them for a decade, only for the bet to fail and six hundred be let go, that’s problematic.
Especially given that the car project was apparently 2000 people from the project, not being able to find other positions for about a quarter of those people is I think valid.
I mean yeah it is unfortunate for the people affected, but projects are canceled. It is entirely possible, especially given some of the unique skills needed specifically for a car, there are people who just won't have a place anywhere else.