Apple laying off 50 sales staff due to economy, enterprise
After making itself appear impervious to economic conditions, Apple has reportedly shown 50 enterprise sales workers the exit in a low-key move that refocuses the company.
The Mac maker is said by CNET News to have kept quiet and let go of some Cupertino-based employees, as well as a whole sales division in Austin, by bringing the affected employees into meeting rooms last week and giving them the notices with security guards in tow.
In both cases, the layoffs took place for "business and economic reasons," though these aren't tied to poor sales or any other systemic problems within the group itself. Instead, they centered on a shift in Apple's strategy for its enterprise sales. Since putting former Americas reseller head John Brandon at the front of the division, the company has reduced the demand on its own end by giving Ingram Micro and other resellers the bulk of the responsibility for pitching Macs to businesses.
The company also didn't preclude any of those facing a forced departure and has offered them the chance to be rehired within Apple.
Even so, Apple has been particularly cautious about mentioning the staff reductions despite an economy where layoffs have been commonplace: both after early, unverified rumors and the most recent report, Apple spokes people have publicly declined to comment rather than acknowledge the headcount change.
The hesitation to report the maneuver is believed to stem both from Apple's historically secretive attitude as well as investors that are already extremely sensitive to any signs of doubt. Apple has rarely disclosed more about its employees than legally required and was only pressured into making statements on Steve Jobs' health after his medical leave made the announcement necessary. As the number of layoffs in the enterprise sales division wasn't large enough to require a public announcement, Apple is thought to have taken the same approach as for Jobs and kept silent in hopes that shareholders wouldn't take notice.
While such a claim would be difficult to verify on its own, Apple is already known to have been taking great pains to avoid laying off staff even when the full impact of the economic crisis became evident late last year. At retail, the company has reduced employee hours, made Creative and Studio workers multitask, and otherwise sought ways to cut costs without conspicuous layoffs or pay rate drops.
As such, cuts within internal groups like the enterprise branch -- as well as unverified rumors of cuts in the Mac hardware group -- are expected to be particularly sore points for Apple.
The Mac maker is said by CNET News to have kept quiet and let go of some Cupertino-based employees, as well as a whole sales division in Austin, by bringing the affected employees into meeting rooms last week and giving them the notices with security guards in tow.
In both cases, the layoffs took place for "business and economic reasons," though these aren't tied to poor sales or any other systemic problems within the group itself. Instead, they centered on a shift in Apple's strategy for its enterprise sales. Since putting former Americas reseller head John Brandon at the front of the division, the company has reduced the demand on its own end by giving Ingram Micro and other resellers the bulk of the responsibility for pitching Macs to businesses.
The company also didn't preclude any of those facing a forced departure and has offered them the chance to be rehired within Apple.
Even so, Apple has been particularly cautious about mentioning the staff reductions despite an economy where layoffs have been commonplace: both after early, unverified rumors and the most recent report, Apple spokes people have publicly declined to comment rather than acknowledge the headcount change.
The hesitation to report the maneuver is believed to stem both from Apple's historically secretive attitude as well as investors that are already extremely sensitive to any signs of doubt. Apple has rarely disclosed more about its employees than legally required and was only pressured into making statements on Steve Jobs' health after his medical leave made the announcement necessary. As the number of layoffs in the enterprise sales division wasn't large enough to require a public announcement, Apple is thought to have taken the same approach as for Jobs and kept silent in hopes that shareholders wouldn't take notice.
While such a claim would be difficult to verify on its own, Apple is already known to have been taking great pains to avoid laying off staff even when the full impact of the economic crisis became evident late last year. At retail, the company has reduced employee hours, made Creative and Studio workers multitask, and otherwise sought ways to cut costs without conspicuous layoffs or pay rate drops.
As such, cuts within internal groups like the enterprise branch -- as well as unverified rumors of cuts in the Mac hardware group -- are expected to be particularly sore points for Apple.
Comments
Alright, they're only laying off 50 people. What's all the fuss about?! They're not going to save any money and it's probably just a restructuring. Random people get fired every day... don't they?
No, no. This is about finding an excuse, any excuse, to label Apple as a failing company. C|net is pushing this big time. It won't be long before somebody slaps the "beleaguered" moniker on Apple once again. For some reason most tech news sites can't stand the idea of a healthy and profitable Apple, Inc. Apple's success irks them to no end. They can't understand why people buy Apple products even though they are priced higher than the "standard" hardware. Tech news pundits are constantly looking for, or trying to manufacture, negative news when it relates to Apple. They want the company to fail because it doesn't conform to their ideas of how the world works.
Exactly how did they make themselves look impervious?
Or are you merely editorializing (that's French for "making stuff up").
The same "hardware group" that brought us such an exciting recent release of same-old, same-old?
The company also didn't preclude any of those facing a forced departure and has offered them the chance to be rehired within Apple.
If a sentence it may be.
I think you need to replace "and has offered them the chance to be" with "from being".
It hardly seems Apple is able to ship a product with some sort of defect, some which affect a good percentage of machines and some quite serious:
- cracking cases
- warped cases
- thin grey lines across screens
- faulty graphics card
- trackpads not registering clicks
- cracked hinges
- case discoloration
- thermal problems and core shutdowns
- DVI adaptors not working
- random shutdowns
- flakey wifi
By anyone's estimations that is quite a list for the last couple of few years. I appreciate some things are unavoidable and computers are inherently complex, but I have doubts about whether there is enough focus on QA.
The Mac maker is said ... to have kept quiet and let go of some Cupertino-based employees.... by bringing the affected employees into meeting rooms last week and giving them the notices with.... !!!!security guards in tow!!!!......[/QUOTE]
HEY DON"T GET UPSET IF YOU LOSE YOUR JOB HERE! YOU ARE SHUFFLED OUT THE BACK DOOR BY AN ARMED MONKEY!!!!NUMBER ONE COMPANY TO WORK FOR???? (Puts a new meaning to the word, 'fired'. Didn't this sort of behavior lead to the demise of Saddam Hussein? I never guessed that Al Gore has a Mac as protection from the Bill Clinton disappearance team. Yes, John Scully did sit next to Hilary at Bills' first State of the Union!)
APPLE IS LYING AGAIN THE SAME WAY THEY DID WITH JOBS ILLNESS.
SHAREHOLDERS ARE GOING TO BE PISSED OFF.
This is likely the reason they were downgraded again.
HEY DON"T GET UPSET IF YOU LOOSE YOUR JOB HERE! YOU ARE SHUFFLED OUT THE BACK DOOR BY AN ARMED MONKEY!!!!NUMBER ONE COMPANY TO WORK FOR???? (Puts a new meaning to the word, 'fired'. Didn't this sort of behavior lead to the demise of Saddam Hussein? I never guessed that Al Gore has a Mac as protection from the Bill Clinton disappearance team. Yes, John Scully did sit in the front row at Bill inauguration!)
I work at Cisco, and with all of the layoffs we now have at least one security guard at the entrance every building.
I think Apple should retain these people as much as possible and let them continue working for Apple, but maybe in a different capacity whenever possible. Maybe they might be able to at least work at an Apple Store, work in marketing, or learn to do something else within the company so that Apple doesn't have to spend additional money rehiring another person.
Companies that are stronger usually do whatever they can to retain employees, especially the outbound sales force. Internal sales force if the call load isn't there, that's another story, but still it is always sad to see people go because it just sends a bad message and the people can't always get a job in 60 days even though they only get 60 days base pay for being laid off.
This is only going to affect the bottom line by maybe $7 or $8 Mil, which is chump change for Apple. They could easily cut some salaries and save that money or cut expenses.
I work at Cisco, and with all of the layoffs we now have at least one security guard at the entrance every building.
I guess that makes it okay then for the number one rated company to work for, with the best reputation for quality to have deteriorated to this! Wouldn't it be better to do a security check on perspective employees and keep the hiring down to pleasant, dedicated people, who would be courteously advised at least a month before being terminated. So they don't lose it in a private meeting from a cold manager who prefers to use a PC at home. Those 'smart' managers who were hired by Apple because they know how to 'handle' people!!!
What is that, $7M or $8M with benefits? Sound more like getting rid of deadwood than an economic choice for a company the size of Apple.
Deadwood? A whole sales division in Austin? In that case we can expect another layoff... the head of Apple's HR department.
This is a very odd sentence:
If a sentence it may be.
I think you need to replace "and has offered them the chance to be" with "from being".
Yeah, you know, words are hard.
I guess that makes it okay then for the number one rated company to work for, with the best reputation for quality to have deteriorated to this! Wouldn't it be better to do a security check on perspective employees and keep the hiring down to pleasant, dedicated people, who would be courteously advised at least a month before being terminated. So they don't loose it in a private meeting from a cold manager who prefers to use a PC at home. Those 'smart' managers who were hired by Apple because they know how to 'handle' people!!!
Jesus christ, what are you smoking?
Deadwood? A whole sales division in Austin? In that case we can expect another layoff... the head of Apple's HR department.
Are you serious? The HR guys call the shots...they probably have everyone documented in Excel spreadsheets on their Dell PCs. I think their jobs are safer than anybodys. But you are right-Apple should keep the people it trains so extensively and find other ways to trim. How bout the legal department??
Jesus christ, what are you smoking?
Jesus doesn't smoke anything, but I did. It was Al Gores favorite blend too!