Apple has laid off dozens of employees across its sales team to streamline the organization and eliminate overlapping roles., according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. “To connect with even more customers, we are making some changes in our sales team that affect a small number of roles,” the company told Gurman, though it didn’t say how many people were affected. Apple also said that it’s hiring for new sales roles and that laid off employees can apply for them. They have until January 20 to secure a new position within the company, or they will be let go with a severance package.
Some of the affected workers told Gurman that while Apple’s official internal reason was to streamline its organization, the layoffs were primarily driven by its plan to shift sales more towards third-party resellers. By relying on third-party channels further, Apple could lower costs like its spending for people’s salaries, especially since it eliminated longtime employees. They reportedly include managers and other staff members who’ve been with the company for 20 to 30 years.
Apple’s government sales team, which works with the Defense and Justice departments, was one of the biggest groups affected by the layoffs. It’s not quite clear if it was a direct effect of the recent US government shutdown. As Gurman notes, the layoffs have taken place in the middle of a record-breaking period. After posting a $102.5 billion revenue for the quarter ending in September, it’s now on track to make $140 billion in sales for the quarter ending in December.
