Apple Cuts Jobs Across Its Sales Organization in Rare Layoff

(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. has eliminated dozens of sales roles to streamline the way it offers products to businesses, schools and governments, a rare layoff for the iPhone maker.

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Management has notified affected workers over the past few weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The cuts were made across the sales organization – some teams were hit particularly hard – although the company did not tell employees how many roles were included.

Affected jobs include account managers serving major businesses, schools and government agencies, as well as employees who operate Apple’s briefing centers for institutional meetings and product demonstrations for potential major customers.

Apple confirmed on Monday that it was reshuffling the department, without giving any specific details.

“To connect with even more customers, we’re making some changes to our sales team that will impact a small number of roles,” a spokesperson for the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement. “We are continuing to recruit and those employees can apply for the new roles.”

It’s unusual for Apple to make cuts across an organization, and the layoffs came as a surprise to those affected. The move is particularly notable as revenues have been growing at their fastest pace in years. Apple is on track to post sales of nearly $140 billion in the December quarter, shattering its previous record.

The company is also planning a new low-end laptop for early next year that could give it a way to reach new business and educational customers.

The latest cuts come after Apple eliminated about 20 roles within its sales teams in Australia and New Zealand several weeks ago.

Employees who lost their jobs have until January 20 to secure another position within the company, otherwise they will be terminated with a severance package. Apple is advertising sales roles on its jobs website and has told laid-off employees they can apply for them.

Internally, the company is making layoffs as part of an effort to streamline its sales workforce and eliminate overlapping responsibilities.

But some affected workers said the move was motivated by an effort to shift more sales to third-party resellers, which the company refers to as channels. Some organizations prefer to work with those indirect vendors, he said, and this change helps Apple reduce internal costs such as salaries.

The cuts include longtime managers and, in some cases, employees who have been with Apple for 20 or 30 years. A key target of the layoffs: a government sales team that works with agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense and Justice Department.

That team was already facing difficult circumstances following the 43-day shutdown of the U.S. government and cuts imposed by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has attempted to cut spending.

Apple’s sales group reports directly to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and is overseen by longtime vice president Mike Fenger. Fenger’s deputy Vivek Thakkar took on expanded responsibilities earlier this year and now oversees all enterprise and education sales.

Apple is less reliant on layoffs than many of its tech competitors, with Cook previously saying the move is a “last resort.” But the company has made cuts from time to time. When Apple terminates jobs, it typically targets them in a way that avoids triggering employee adjustment and retraining notifications, or WARN notices, which are required by U.S. labor law.

In 2024, Apple cut an unusually large number of employees due to product cancellations and an unstable economy. This included employees of its long-running – and now defunct – self-driving car project and an effort to develop in-house screens for its devices. Some AI-related teams and parts of the services division were also affected.

Elsewhere in the technology world, layoffs are more widespread. Earlier this month, Amazon.com Inc. had said it would cut more than 14,000 employees, while Meta Platform Inc. recently eliminated several hundred roles in its AI organization.

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