According to California Employment Development Department records, Apple Inc. let off around 600 people in California as part of its decision to discontinue its car and smartwatch display initiatives.
The Cupertino, California-based company submitted eight reports to the state to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN program.
371 people were let go from Apple’s main car-related office in Santa Clara, California
Companies must disclose to the state agency for each California address where employees have been laid off. At least 87 of the employees worked at a location that corresponded to a secret Apple facility for next-generation screen research, while the others were placed in buildings associated with the automobile project.
At the end of February, Apple began to wind down both initiatives, which were viewed as big moonshot efforts to improve the company’s technologies or enter significant new markets. The car project was discontinued due to executive ambivalence over its direction and financial issues. The display initiative was discontinued owing to engineering, supplier, and financial issues.
According to sources, 371 people were let go from Apple’s main car-related office in Santa Clara, California, with dozens more affected at several satellite sites. In some cases, members of the Apple car group were transferred to other teams, such as artificial intelligence or personal robotics.
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on how many staff were affected by the layoffs.
The WARN warnings do not reveal the full scope of the job cuts because Apple had several engineers working on both projects in other locations, including Arizona.