Apple has terminated 614 employees across eight Silicon Valley locations, marking a rare workforce reduction for a company that largely avoided the sweeping tech layoffs of recent years.
State filings reveal the cuts took effect March 28, with the heaviest impact landing at a Santa Clara office on Kifer Road, where 371 workers lost their jobs. The layoffs will be finalized by May 27, according to documents submitted to California’s Employment Development Department under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
Many of those let go worked on Apple’s electric vehicle initiative, a secretive program the company scrapped earlier this year. The project, which consumed billions in research spending, aimed to produce a car that could compete with Tesla’s autonomous offerings. Apple has not publicly confirmed which departments absorbed the cuts.
For years, Apple stood apart from competitors like Meta, Google, and Amazon, which slashed tens of thousands of positions following pandemic-era hiring sprees. Meanwhile, Apple’s headcount remained stable, with the company reporting roughly 161,000 full-time equivalent employees in a recent regulatory filing.
As a result, these reductions signal a shift. Even Apple, long insulated from the cost-cutting wave sweeping the tech sector, now faces pressure to streamline operations. The months ahead will show whether this marks a one-time adjustment tied to the abandoned car project or something broader.
