Khaberni - Apple has canceled dozens of jobs in the sales department, in a rare step by the American tech giant aimed at simplifying how it presents its products to businesses, schools, and government entities.
According to informed sources, the affected employees were notified of the layoffs over the past two weeks, and the cuts encompassed various sales departments, with some teams more heavily impacted, though the company did not disclose the total number of jobs eliminated. The measures affected account managers serving large companies and educational institutions, as well as employees responsible for Apple’s briefing centers designed for corporate meetings and product demonstrations for prospective major clients.
Apple confirmed on Monday that it is restructuring its sales department, with a spokesperson from its headquarters in Cupertino, California, stating that the company "is making some changes in the sales team that affect a small number of jobs in order to reach more customers," adding that "Apple" continues to hire, and affected employees can apply for new positions within the company.
This step comes at a time when Apple's revenues are growing at the fastest pace in years, as it prepares to record sales close to $140 billion in the December quarter, surpassing its previous record, and plans to launch a low-cost laptop early next year to boost its presence in the business and education sectors.
The recent cuts followed the elimination of about 20 sales team jobs in Australia and New Zealand a few weeks ago. Employees affected by the decision were notified that they have until January 20 to find another job within the company, or their services will be terminated along with a severance package. Apple has already posted new vacancies in the sales department on its website and notified laid-off employees of the opportunity to apply for them.
Apple internally presents these layoffs as part of an effort to streamline the sales force and reduce overlaps in responsibilities, but some of the affected employees see the goal as shifting more sales to external distributors, known as the "distribution channel," where some institutions prefer dealing with indirect vendors to help reduce internal costs such as salaries.
The cuts included veteran managers, some of whom had spent 20 to 30 years in the company. The government sales team, which deals with agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Justice, was among those most affected, especially since this team previously faced challenges due to a 43-day U.S. government shutdown and cuts imposed by the "Government Efficiency Administration" to reduce expenses.
The sales department reports directly to CEO Tim Cook, and is headed by Vice President Mike Finger, while Vivek Thakar, one of Finger’s assistants, took on expanded responsibilities earlier this year, overseeing all sales in the enterprise and education sectors.
Although Apple has resorted to more extensive staff reductions in 2024 than usual due to the cancellation of some projects and a broader economic downturn, including the self-driving car project and initiatives for developing in-house displays, as well as parts of the AI and services teams, it still remains less reliant on layoffs than other major tech companies, having previously described this option as "a last resort" by Cook.
Conversely, the wave of widespread layoffs continues in other technology companies, with "Amazon" announcing earlier this month the reduction of more than 14,000 jobs, while "Meta" recently cut hundreds of jobs within its artificial intelligence team.
