Apple Makes First Job Cuts Among Corporate Retail Teams

Layoffs may be a “last-resort kind of thing” for Apple, but it seems that it hasn’t been able to avoid them entirely, despite its best efforts to tighten its belt in many other areas.

Insider sources have told Mark Gurman at Bloomberg that Apple is “eliminating a small number of roles within its corporate retail teams.” While these likely don’t come anywhere near the massive layoffs in its rivals’ workforces, it’s the first time we’ve heard of any internal job cuts by Apple in the same timeframe.

For instance, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook have each slashed over 10,000 jobs from their global workforces, and those are just the headliners. There have been deep job cuts across nearly the entire big tech industry, from Amazon to Zoom.

Apple’s ability to run “lean-and-mean” has likely saved it the need to slash nearly as many staff. While Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon have been accused of “vanity hiring” — more than doubling their employee counts during the pandemic years — Apple grew its workforce by a considerably more modest 20 percent.

Unlike its rivals, Apple doesn’t usually hire people solely to keep them away from its competitors or have them do “fake work” to increase the headcount in high-profile departments. Apple also doesn’t engage in the “promotion from below” strategy typical of many Fortune 500 companies, where managers with more staff reporting to them get bigger bonuses and larger offices.

As a result, Apple has far less fat to trim than its competitors; its workforce is made up almost entirely of “muscle,” so it can’t afford to lose people if it wants to stay at the forefront of technology.

Still, as much as Tim Cook expressed a desire to avoid layoffs, he was also quite candid about the possibility. It would be irresponsible for Apple’s executive team to rule the possibility out entirely — especially if there are areas where cuts should be made.

I view layoffs as a last-resort kind of thing. You can never say never. We want to manage costs in other ways to the degree that we can.

Tim Cook

According to Gurman, the company is “shedding positions in what it calls its development and preservation teams” — the corporate employees who oversee the “construction and upkeep of Apple retail stores and other facilities around the world.”

It’s unclear how many people these teams employ within Apple nor how many positions are being eliminated, although Gurman notes it’s “likely very small.” However, with no disrespect to the hard-working professionals on these teams, it seems fair to say that this isn’t likely the most crucial group to Apple’s overall product ambitions or business strategy.

Naturally, Apple is spinning this as a “streamlining effort” to avoid using the word “layoffs.” The company also promises to support those affected by allowing them to reapply for “roles similar to their prior jobs” and offering “as much as four months of pay” to those who don’t continue with the company in a new role.

The restructuring could also be a result of changes to Apple’s roadmap for opening new retail stores or upgrading existing ones. It stands to reason that new Apple retail stores aren’t a huge priority in the midst of a hiring freeze, and the company doesn’t need to keep people on staff to design and plan stores if it’s not building any in the near future.

While these are the first layoffs of full-time employees within Apple, the company has eliminated many contract positions in recent months, including recruiters and those working in some of its engineering teams. These cutbacks may also contribute to reports that Apple is delaying some product releases as it’s forced to reallocate its research and development resources to focus on its most important projects.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]