Apple has cut dozens of sales roles as part of an effort to streamline how it sells products to businesses, schools and government agencies. This marks a rare round of layoffs for the company. People familiar with the development said that the management notified affected staff over the last few weeks. The cuts spanned several parts of the sales organisation, with some teams impacted more than others. The company did not disclose the exact number of roles affected.
The eliminated positions included account managers who worked with major business clients, educational institutions and government bodies. Staff who managed Apple’s briefing centres for institutional meetings and product demonstrations were also affected. Apple confirmed that it is restructuring the division but did not share further details. A spokesperson said, “To connect with even more customers, we are making some changes in our sales team that affect a small number of roles. We are continuing to hire and those employees can apply for new roles.”
The layoffs came as a surprise because Apple has rarely made cuts across full teams. The move is also notable because the company has been seeing one of its strongest periods of revenue growth in years. Apple is on track to report nearly one hundred and forty billion dollars in sales for the December quarter. This would be its highest revenue so far. The company is also preparing a new low end laptop for early next year to attract more business and educational customers.
These cuts follow the removal of about twenty roles in its sales teams in Australia and New Zealand a few weeks earlier. Employees who lost their jobs now have until January twenty to secure another role within the company. If they do not find a position, they will receive a severance package. Apple continues to advertise sales roles on its website and has encouraged affected workers to apply.
Inside the company, the layoffs are being explained as a way to remove overlaps in responsibilities and create a simpler structure. However, some affected staff said that the changes are also linked to a shift towards relying more on third party resellers, known as the channel. Some organisations prefer to work with those sellers and the shift helps Apple cut internal expenses such as salaries.
The cuts included long serving managers, including some who have been with Apple for twenty or thirty years. One of the hardest hit teams was a government sales group that works with agencies such as the United States Defence Department and Justice Department. That team was already facing pressure due to a forty three day government shutdown and spending reductions by the Department of Government Efficiency.
Apple’s sales division reports directly to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. It is led by Mike Fenger, a long term vice president. Earlier this year, Fenger’s deputy Vivek Thakkar took on wider responsibilities and now oversees all enterprise and education sales.
Apple usually avoids layoffs and Cook has said in the past that they are a last resort. Still, the company has made job cuts in the past. In twenty twenty four, Apple cut a larger number of roles due to cancelled products and economic uncertainty. This included staff working on the now cancelled self driving car project, in house screen development efforts and some artificial intelligence and services teams. Meanwhile, layoffs continue across the wider technology sector. Amazon recently announced more than fourteen thousand job cuts and Meta cut several hundred roles in its artificial intelligence teams.
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