More tech layoffs are in the works as Apple and Amazon are letting go of hundreds of workers.
Apple announced on Friday that it’s laying off over 600 workers in California, effective May 27, according to a state filing.
This is the first major round of layoffs for Apple since the pandemic, something that CEO Tim Cook said was a “last resort” in May 2023.
Related: Apple Is Reportedly Beginning a Small Round of Layoffs
“Mass layoffs is not something that we’re talking about at this moment,” Cook said at the time. “We’re continuing to be extremely prudent on hiring. We’re continuing to hire, just at a lower clip level than we were before. And we’re doing all the right things of challenging the things that we spend, and we’re just finding a few more ways to save on it.”
The layoffs follow Apple’s decision to cancel its 10-year-long project to create an electric, self-driving car. Workers tasked with the project were on a team called the “Special Projects Group.”
Friday’s filing didn’t mention the group by name, but the layoffs affect one of Apple’s satellite offices and not its headquarters, which means the cut roles could be from a special project.
Amazon, meanwhile, announced on Wednesday that it was cutting hundreds of jobs in its cloud computing division, AWS.
“These decisions are difficult but necessary as we continue to invest, hire, and optimize resources to deliver innovation for our customers,” said Amazon spokesperson Duncan Neasham in a statement per NPR.
The cut roles oversee technology in physical storefronts and sales, marketing, and global service organization inside AWS.
Related: Amazon Lays Off Hundreds of Staffers at Prime, Twitch, MGM
The job cuts come just days after Amazon announced that it was nixing its “Just Walk Out” checkout options at its grocery storefronts.
According to data collected by TechCrunch, the total number of tech layoffs in 2023 was around 262,735 — up 59% from the year prior.
