After being the only Big Tech not to have made significant cuts the previous year, too Apple must now deal with mass layoffs. About 614 employees were informed of the loss of their jobs, following the closure of major projects, in particular the Titan project relative to the self-driving electric car. They are the first significant job cuts for Apple since the pandemic.
Although a portion of employees may be reassigned to projects related to Artificial Intelligence, the news highlights a turning point for the company led by Tim Cook, which stood out in 2023 for having avoided major layoffs. The cuts will be effective starting May 27.
Apple is weighing on the closure of its electric car project
The layoffs come after the failure and closure of the Titan project, Apple's autonomous electric car that will never see the light of day. The closure was caused by uncertainty among executives about its direction and concerns about costs. The project, which started in 2014, involved over 2000 employees. The Cupertino, California-based company has filed eight separate reports with the state to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) program.
Secondo Bloomberg, of the over 600 employees made redundant, 87 were active in the development of latest generation screens in a secret installation, while the others were clerks in buildings linked to the automotive project, in which Apple has invested considerable resources over the last decade (with sums ranging between 10 and 30 billion). At the end of February, Apple has discontinued both initiatives.
Apple, some employees reassigned
According to reports, 371 excess employees were spotted at Apple's main automotive office in Santa Clara, California, with several dozen other impacts at satellite offices. Some members of Apple's automotive team have been transferred to other departments, such as artificial intelligence or personal robotics. The number of layoffs could grow because Apple had numerous engineers employed on both projects in other states including Arizona.
