Apple has confirmed that it recently cut a number of jobs within its sales division. While layoffs are common in the tech industry, Apple treats job cuts as a last resort option.
Mark Gurman first reported the news, including Apple’s statement, for Bloomberg. Apple tells Bloomberg that it invites employees who were let go to apply for new roles within the company.
“To connect with even more customers, we are making some changes in our sales team that affect a small number of roles,” a spokesperson for the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement. “We are continuing to hire and those employees can apply for new roles.”
As an aside, the first six words of that statement seem unnecessary. Anyway, the report matches what we’ve seen on LinkedIn in recent weeks: Apple employees sharing that they’ve been let go.
Gurman reports that while the company positions these jobs cuts as an efficiency move, some affected employees believe Apple is outsourcing more of its sales strategy to third-party resellers.
While layoffs are rare for Apple, the company cut hundreds of roles last year. While some job cuts affected Apple’s Services division, the majority of layoffs followed Apple’s canceled car project.
You can read the full report at Bloomberg.