Apple 'Lays Off' Corporate Retail Employees Globally

JAKARTA - Shocking news came from Apple, which claimed to be laying off the company's retail employees. Those affected are on its development and maintenance teams.

According to reports, employees who are part of the Layoffs (PHK) handle the construction and maintenance of Apple's retail locations around the world.

In a note to employees, the company said the move was actually meant to improve store maintenance and not as layoffs

However, only limited to streamlining to improve store maintenance globally. Additionally, Apple is notifying affected employees they can reapply for other roles within the company.

Those who are not accepted for new roles will receive four months of severance pay. It's not clear how many employees were affected, but Bloomberg said, quoted from MacRumors, Wednesday, April 5, it's likely only a small proportion.

Apple started to have signs of sluggishness in its business since November last year. The company stopped hiring for most jobs outside of research and development, and in March this year, Apple expanded its hiring freeze.

For many teams, Apple has stopped hiring, and when employees leave, positions are left vacant. By choosing to stop hiring, it is claimed to be Apple's strategy to avoid widespread layoffs like other technology companies.

For example, Amazon has laid off 27.000, Meta has laid off 21.000, then 10.000 Microsoft employees have also been exposed and Google has laid off 10.000 workers in the last few months.

As previously announced, Apple's Mac business is also experiencing a decline which has resulted in the company having to halt production of the M2 chip.

The temporary layoffs Apple made overall in January and February were the first time since enterprise silicon began, adjusting to lower demand. It will be a long time before sales return to normal.