Apple has let go of several dozen people from its sales teams, Bloomberg reported. The company is trying to simplify how it sells to businesses, schools, and government agencies. The affected employees were told over the past couple of weeks. Broad layoffs are rare for Apple, which usually avoids them.
The cuts touched different parts of the sales organisation, though some teams were hit harder than others. Apple didn’t say how many people were let go. The roles affected included account managers who handle large institutional clients and staff who run Apple’s briefing centres, where major customers get hands-on demonstrations. Even veteran managers with decades at the company were impacted. One of the hardest-hit groups was the government sales team, which works with agencies like the US Defence Department and the Justice Department, and had already been dealing with fallout from a 43-day government shutdown and tighter budgets.
Apple confirmed it’s restructuring its sales unit but didn’t go into specifics. A spokesperson said the changes touch only a small set of roles, and that the company is still hiring. Those affected can apply for the newly open positions.
The sales organisation reports directly to CEO Tim Cook and is led by VP Mike Fenger. Earlier this year Fenger’s deputy, Vivek Thakkar, took on wider responsibilities and now oversees all enterprise and education sales.
Employees who lost their jobs have until January 20 to find another role inside Apple. If they don’t, they will receive severance. The company has already posted new openings on its jobs site.
The layoffs caught many by surprise, especially since Apple’s revenue continues to climb. The company expects nearly 140 billion dollars in sales for the December quarter, which would be a new record. Apple is also preparing to launch a lower-priced laptop next year to reach more business and education customers. Earlier, the company had cut around 20 sales roles in Australia and New Zealand. Internally, the move is being described as an attempt to streamline the sales function and reduce duplicate work.
Some employees believe the deeper reason is Apple’s push to shift more sales to outside resellers. Many organisations already prefer working with these channel partners, and it reduces internal costs for Apple.
The company typically avoids layoffs and calls them a last measure. When it does cut jobs, it tries to do so in a way that avoids triggering mandatory legal notifications in the US. Meanwhile, other tech giants continue to trim their workforces: Amazon plans to cut more than 14,000 roles, and Meta has eliminated hundreds of jobs in its AI division.
