According to CNBC, Apple has just announced the layoff of 614 employees working in California (USA), marking the company's first significant staff reduction since the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to documents filed with the California government, the affected employees work at eight different facilities in the city of Santa Clara. They were notified of the layoffs on March 8 and the cuts will take effect on May 28.3.
Apple announced the layoff of more than 600 employees related to the Apple Car project
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This round of layoffs took place after Apple canceled its ambitious self-driving electric vehicle project called Apple Car, which the company had cherished for many years. The project is said to cost billions of dollars and mobilize hundreds of engineers, but Apple decided to stop due to technical difficulties and challenges in bringing the product to market.
Although Apple did not disclose the specific number of employees affected by the Apple Car project, the number of 614 layoffs shows the significant impact of canceling this project. Positions being cut include machine shop managers, hardware engineers and product design engineers.
The layoffs take place in a context where the technology industry is facing many common difficulties such as high inflation, rising interest rates and declining consumer demand. Many other large technology companies such as Meta, Netflix and X have also made or are planning to cut staff recently.
It is unclear what plans Apple will have for fired employees. However, the company said it will support these employees in finding new jobs, including providing severance pay and career counseling services.
