Apple peels away some sales staff in small layoff

"Sales staff focused on enterprise, government, and academic accounts are expected to be let go, according to Bloomberg. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. California's Employment Development Department did not immediately respond to a request to say whether Apple has notified the agency under the state's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). Last year, Apple cut an estimated 600 positions, mostly those working on the company's canceled self-driving car gambit."

"As of September 27, 2025, the iBiz had about 166,000 full-time employees, up from 164,000 as of September 28, 2024. Apple told Bloomberg: "To connect with even more customers, we are making some changes in our sales team that affect a small number of roles." How the company expects to serve more customers with fewer staff wasn't addressed. But one potential outcome is more opportunities for third-party resellers."

Apple is eliminating several dozen positions in its sales organization, primarily affecting staff focused on enterprise, government and academic accounts. The reductions may be too small to trigger California's WARN reporting requirement, which applies when employers with more than 75 employees lay off 50 or more workers within 30 days. Last year Apple cut about 600 roles, mainly from its canceled self-driving car project, and those layoffs included WARN disclosures. As of September 27, 2025, Apple had about 166,000 full-time employees, up from 164,000 a year earlier. Apple said it is making changes to its sales team to connect with more customers, though it did not explain how fewer staff will serve more customers; one possible outcome is increased reliance on third-party resellers. The cuts do not appear driven by revenue weakness: Q4 2025 revenue was $102.5 billion, up 8% year over year, and the company is significantly increasing investments in AI infrastructure, with expected operating expenses for the December quarter between $18.1 billion and $18.5 billion.

Read at Theregister