After several months of frugal spending in the face of global financial pressures, Apple has finally caved and made layoffs.
A new report says that Apple "is eliminating a small number of roles within its corporate retail teams," the first such layoffs at the company since an economic downturn that has rocked all of big tech.
Bloomberg reports that "the number of positions being eliminated couldn’t be ascertained" but is "likely very small," a marked departure from rivals like Facebook and Meta who have carved tens of thousands out of their respective workforces.
Streamlining
Like any big company, Apple is "positioning the move as a streamlining effort, rather than layoffs" and said, "the changes were designed to improve upkeep of stores globally." Laid-off employees will also receive support from the company, although the details of this are not clear.
As the report notes, Apple has made several efforts to avoid laying off employees, slowing down hiring and trimming budgets, as well as reducing its contractor headcounts. The last such round of layoffs came before the pandemic when around 200 roles were eliminated from its Apple Car division.
It comes amidst reports that earlier this year Apple had to stop making M2 chips for its best MacBooks because of a lull in consumer demand. The company, like everyone else in the global economy, continues to fight the pincer movement of inflation and a reduction in consumer spending.
Last week, Apple announced that its annual developer conference WWDC 2023 would take place on June 5. Alongside the customary developer sessions and one-to-ones, Apple will unveil iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, tvOS 17, and likely a brand new product category in its Apple VR Reality Pro headset. The new headset will reportedly offer both virtual and mixed-reality experiences and could come with an eye-watering $3,000 price tag.
