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CNET notes that, according Apple's 10-Q document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in association with the release of its earnings for the second fiscal quarter of 2009, Apple reduced the number of employees in its retail store division from 15,600 to approximately 14,000 full-time equivalents during the quarter.
The retail arm of the company now employs 14,000 full-time equivalent workers, down from 15,600 at the end of Apple's first fiscal quarter, according to a filing with the SEC. Reports surfaced late last year that Apple was looking into ways to reduce the number of hours worked by part-time employees as a hedge against a coming recession.
The report also noted that Apple opened only one new retail store during the quarter. The new store is located in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Article Link: Apple Reduces Retail Workforce by 10% Over Last Quarter
 

Michael73

macrumors 65816
Feb 27, 2007
1,082
41
Too few as it is

Maybe it's the fact that the Keystone Crossing store is the only one in Indiana but even though it always seems like there's a ton of employees, it always seems like there's even more customers who need help. Frankly, many are lined up for a Genius Bar appointment.

The interesting thing about the CNET info is that it's reducing hours worked by part-time employees it doesn't indicate a cost savings associated with the measure or whether the time slack was picked up by FTEs.
 

Grimace

macrumors 68040
Feb 17, 2003
3,568
226
with Hamburglar.
There is always a beefed up force for the holiday shopping period that are then not continued on much after January 31.

Most of this is a natural cycle...
 

Lancetx

macrumors 68000
Aug 11, 2003
1,991
619
There is always a beefed up force for the holiday shopping period that are then not continued on much after January 31.

Most of this is a natural cycle...

Of course it is, but CNET never uses any common sense in their reporting. It's all about the doom and gloom. :rolleyes:
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,375
2,801
There is always a beefed up force for the holiday shopping period that are then not continued on much after January 31.

Most of this is a natural cycle...

Last year they went from 11,600 at the end of the December quarter to 12,000 at the end of the March quarter. They opened 4 new stores in the March quarter of 2008.

So it's not really normal, although not unexpected given the previous rumors and the recent economic troubles.
 

ppnkg

macrumors 6502a
Jul 29, 2005
510
6
UK
unsurprising...it is a known fact that thriving corporations feed on human lives.
 

zombitronic

macrumors 65816
Feb 9, 2007
1,127
39
Of course it is, but CNET never uses any common sense in their reporting. It's all about the doom and gloom. :rolleyes:

The worst part is the that story is spreading like wildfire. More sites are just playing telephone, reporting that some other site reported without any further investigation.

On a day that the market is up, that other tech stocks are up, a day after MSFT missed their earnings yet are WAY up, two days after Apple had another record quarter, AAPL is down. Eff the system.
 

Gasu E.

macrumors 603
Mar 20, 2004
5,029
3,145
Not far from Boston, MA.
The worst part is the that story is spreading like wildfire. More sites are just playing telephone, reporting that some other site reported without any further investigation.

On a day that the market is up, that other tech stocks are up, a day after MSFT missed their earnings yet are WAY up, two days after Apple had another record quarter, AAPL is down. Eff the system.

I doubt one thing has to do with another. Given the times, layoffs have been generally interpreted as a sign that management is willing to "take the necessary steps". My company's stock jumped 5% when a layoff was announced.
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,375
2,801
Sorry, didn't mean to cause confusion. I thought it was clear from the article and the selected quote that the reduction was primarily due to cutting back of hours, not from out-and-out layoffs, but I guess not.
 

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
The worst part is the that story is spreading like wildfire. More sites are just playing telephone, reporting that some other site reported without any further investigation.



Reporters investigating to get to the facts? Bwaaahaaaahaaaahaaa. What do you think this is? 1940 or something. Most sites are not has honest as MacRumors; MR is up front the site is dedicated to rumors, which may or may not be true.
 

MacVixen

macrumors 6502
Jan 26, 2009
385
0
Santa Cruz, CA
"full-time equivalents" is the key phrase in the article. That makes it clear to me that they are cutting hours not bodies.

Just hope it's not happening in Bay Area stores. :p The Valley Fair store is a PIA to shop because there are not nearly enough employees. Los Gatos is better and Oakridge is a joke it's so small...
 

deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,227
3,825
The worst part is the that story is spreading like wildfire. More sites are just playing telephone, reporting that some other site reported without any further investigation.

On a day that the market is up, that other tech stocks are up, a day after MSFT missed their earnings yet are WAY up, two days after Apple had another record quarter, AAPL is down. Eff the system.

The metric that would/could contribute to a stock decline is much more likely the same store sales declining year-over-year rather that FTE hours. Name me a retailer whose stock goes up when they report that same store sales are sinking year-over-year ????

Sometimes growth covers up systemic weaknesses. Apple's stock is only truly get priced and stablize after folks have had time to plow through the 10K and really look at the numbers. Not the only the numbers from the conference call. Companies always somewhat spin the numbers in the conference call. (don't misreport but don't necessarily highlight weak points either ) You also almost always get over-reaction to the comments there. ( either too far up and too far down before the more rational investors exhibit more influence over the share price. )
 

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,520
Sorry, didn't mean to cause confusion. I thought it was clear from the article and the selected quote that the reduction was primarily due to cutting back of hours, not from out-and-out layoffs, but I guess not.


It's not clear. The media in general has misreported this entire 'story'. Of course, Apple = page views so...

Look at your article title. Also not mentioned is that the previous quarter includes xmas where retailers beef up their staff.
 

gibbz

macrumors 68030
May 31, 2007
2,701
100
Norman, OK
MacDailyNews adds a nice summary:
MacDailyNews Take: We've done something that may well be unprecedented in modern "journalism" - we looked it up. Apple's SEC 10-Q filing, dated May 1, 2008, clearly and unequivocally stated, "As of March 29, 2008, the Retail segment had approximately 12,000 full-time equivalent employees." 14,000 today - 12,000 a year ago = 2,000 new employees! Okay, "full-time equivalents" or "man-hours," whatever.

The point is the same as we made earlier today: Those 15,900 (yes, 15,900, not 15,600; we looked that up, too!) man-hours that were used to concoct this non-story were reported by Apple in their SEC 10-K filed on November 5, 2008. In other words, as we wrote this morning:

[The cuts were] in retail. After Christmas. Meaning holiday staff, as usual, did not continue past the holidays. Also in the same 10-Q filing, conversely, Apple increased R&D headcount in the current year to support expanded R&D activities, but did not provide a hard figure, perhaps in order to protect that information from competitors. We predict that these facts will not be present in many (if any) other media outlets' news stories about this issue.

Seriously, if this is the best the Apple haters can drum up, Apple shares will be back above $200 before you know it.
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,375
2,801
Also not mentioned is that the previous quarter includes xmas where retailers beef up their staff.

But as I noted earlier, there was not a similar drop after the holiday 2007 quarter, so I wouldn't chalk this year's drop up to beefed up holiday help going away. I don't doubt that there was some of that, but there is clearly a more significant scaling back of hours going on.

I updated the article earlier today to hopefully clarify things a bit.
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Of course it is, but CNET never uses any common sense in their reporting. It's all about the doom and gloom. :rolleyes:

Apple also reported that same-store revenues declined (link):

While the stores' operating margin of 20.3 percent was nearly the highest in the retail segment's history, revenues per store still declined 17.4 percent year over year, reflecting the tough economy. Visitors, Macs shipped, and non-Mac sales increased year over year for the segment as a whole, but the statistics per store declined since Apple opened more stores in 2008 than the year before.

I don't see how this can be totally written off as not indicating any signs of softening in Apple's relatively fantastic retail stores.
 

iPhoneNYC

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2007
549
0
It's a sign of the times but Apple is sitting on something like 30 billion in cash and sales are off only a bit. Are the lay-offs at the Stores or at production?
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
It's a sign of the times but Apple is sitting on something like 30 billion in cash and sales are off only a bit. Are the lay-offs at the Stores or at production?

How about you read the article and even the posts in this thread eh?
 

michael.lauden

macrumors 68020
Dec 25, 2008
2,326
1
"full-time equivalents" is the key phrase in the article. That makes it clear to me that they are cutting hours not bodies.

Just hope it's not happening in Bay Area stores. :p The Valley Fair store is a PIA to shop because there are not nearly enough employees. Los Gatos is better and Oakridge is a joke it's so small...

aslong as it picks up in the next year or 2...i'm fine. working at Apple would be a great job while finishing up college
 
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