Apple Laying Off Some Corporate Retail Employees

[antiprotest]

I think some companies have layoff FOMO. Even if they can afford their current staff, they can't stand their competitors saving so much money that they want to save some too. Now is their chance to do it, because with so many companies laying off they would not look too bad doing the same. If you're the only one doing it, then people think your company is in trouble.

 

[Flight Plan]

Laying off people in corporate is arguably better than letting go of people who work in the retail stores. Corporate employees have the ability to look for new jobs, potentially jobs that pay better than the old one. Retail employees who work in stores aren't really afforded that opportunity due to the sector they work in, and that sucks, but is usually the case.

Not only that; if store employees are getting laid off, that will cause additional work burden on the remaining staff. This can go badly if they get upset enough to, say sabotage the customer.

We've all heard the stories of restaurant workers spitting in customer food because their co-workers got laid off and now the remaining people have to do their own work AND their former teammates' work.

If it gets out into the press, that's almost NEVER recoverable without the at-fault parties going to jail, and even then you might STILL need to institute a company name change. Seriously, if you heard of somebody at Coca Cola peeing in the vats, you'd probably convert to Pepsi right quick, and wouldn't come back to Coke anytime soon; certainly not without some prison sentences being prominently featured in the press.

 

[waterfta]

Tim Cook isn't an innovator in the same sense that his predecessor was, but he is good at doing what he needs to make sure the stock market valuation is where it needs to be. All of these decisions and numbers from these companies are driven by that. Unsurprisingly that's where most of Mr. Cook's wealth is held. So, when you tie someone's performance to stocks, there is incentive to trim in as many places as possible as long as the needle moves in the right direction.

Is that good or bad? I don't know...

 

[Blackstick]

What is "corporate retail"?

These are folks who work for “retail operations” in Cupertino. Think those who work with visuals, real estate selection, 3rd party brand relations, contracting project managers.

That sort of job. $125k jobs with a lot of travel to new store openings. Would potentially indicate they’re slowing down store openings.

 

[citysnaps]

Tim Cook isn't an innovator in the same sense that his predecessor was, but he is good at doing what he needs to make sure the stock market valuation is where it needs to be. All of these decisions and numbers from these companies are driven by that. Unsurprisingly that's where most of Mr. Cook's wealth is held. So, when you tie someone's performance to stocks, there is incentive to trim in as many places as possible as long as the needle moves in the right direction.

Is that good or bad? I don't know...

The number of employees cut wasn't stated, though it was said to be small. Let's say it's 100 employees. As Apple's employee count is 164,000+, it's difficult to see how that cut would make any difference to Apple's bottom line and stock valuation (in general, or specific to TC).

I suspect it's a matter of Apple's corporate customers (Facebook/Meta, google, HP, Cisco, Salesforce, Oracle, PayPal, Zoom, etc.) all having massive layoffs due to the economy, which trickles back to Apple in the form of decreased corporate sales of Apple products, and thus needing fewer corporate retail employees.

 

[Rogifan]

Large companies lay off employees all the time. I just lost 4 people on my team a few weeks ago. In this case Bloomberg admits it’s a small number of people. Sorry Bloomberg this is not news.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

It begins...

 

[anthogag]

Going to streamline your asset

 

[macconservative]

And that's why employees have no ethical issues with pulling whatever they want on their corporate overlords. The corporations will cut your throat to please shareholders. Employees deserve to do the same to the corporations I suppose.

Its one reason to always keep the resume up to date. I love the job that I currently have but I understand that tomorrow that job may not be there tomorrow. The company won't think twice about letting people go and I won't think twice about moving to an even better job whenever I want to. There is no loyalty any more

 

[BellSystem]

Everyone, brace for impact, its gonna be a bumpy ride this summer!

Nah might be better….less people to check in with to check in for checking in to buy something.

 

[Abazigal]

Companies hire and fire people all the time. Until the layoffs are on the same scale as Facebook and Google, I don’t see how it’s something to raise a panic over.

 

[macconservative]

These are folks who work for “retail operations” in Cupertino. Think those who work with visuals, real estate selection, 3rd party brand relations, contracting project managers.

That sort of job. $125k jobs with a lot of travel to new store openings. Would potentially indicate they’re slowing down store openings.

It wouldn't surprise me to see them start closing some stores

 

[alba_83]

The number of employees cut wasn't stated, though it was said to be small. Let's say it's 100 employees. As Apple's employee count is 164,000+, it's difficult to see how that cut would make any difference to Apple's bottom line and stock valuation (in general, or specific to TC).

I think this is the whole point. In no way could such a small number of employees be considered a significant cost-saving. I think it's far more reasonable to accept that these are redundancies of role; this seems more likely to truly be about efficiency than cost.

 

[tridley68]

Tim Cook's like "If I gotta take a pay cut, then I'm gonna fire some people."

Makes sense its a Gog eat Dog World

 

[Naraxus]

Here's hoping the first two names on the list are Craig Federighi & Eddy Cue

 

[goobot]

Looking forward to that recession caused by mass unemployment so companies making billions a month can squeeze out a few more million. And the fact ms fired an ai ethics team, looking forward to our ai over lords…

 

[sinoka56]

"small number" like the "Small Number" of Users Who Continue to Have Issues With Third-Generation MacBook Keyboards 😉

 

[frownface]

Nothing like a round of layoffs to keep the employee base docile.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Enterprise sales aka large corporations

Don’t even have to read the article, it’s right there in the summary. They “handle the construction and upkeep of Apple retail locations worldwide”

 

[DownUnderDan]

What is "corporate retail"?

What is corporate retail?

Corporate retailing: It involves retailing through corporate channels like chain stores, franchises, and merchandising conglomerates. Corporate retailing focuses on retailing goods of only the parent or partner brand.

Source: feedough.com via a Google search.

 

[BGPL]

RIFs are a part of the private sector, but this quote "Apple told employees that these are not layoffs, but streamlining, and that the changes are aimed at improving the upkeep of stores globally" is a load of malarky. Just call it what it is, a group of people won't have a job tomorrow and will be really stressed out until they find something else, if they find something else in this difficult job market. They are 100% layoffs. This quote came from a room full of people with silver tongues and no soul. I've got something you can streamline.

 

[dumastudetto]

Apple must do this to protect value for shareholders. Sucks for those who need to be terminated, but I hope they appreciate the greater good.

 

[120FPS]

From the description of the job in the article it sounds like retail expansion is projected to wind down and will be in maintain mode.

 

[genovelle]

How exactly are these not layoffs?

Layoffs are a work stoppage that can be temporary or permanent with no option to remain with the company. This is an elimination of unnecessary positions with the option to apply to other positions within the company. This may be a work from home group that was no longer manageable. If they all choose to take other positions within the company this would be net zero shift in headcount.

 

[genovelle]

we really don't know how much they were making.
And doesn't matter how much money a company makes, they will squeeze every penny from employees, suppliers, Most of the executives compensation is based on stock price.

As they should. If a position no longer makes sense it should be cut. No matter how big the company is they should not be paying people they don’t need. They have the option to apply for other positions in the company so it’s not a layoff.