Apple has laid off more than 600 employees, according to a California state agency, the first known job cuts since the company's pandemic, AFP reports.
The California-based company was largely spared from last year's mass layoffs at Amazon, Meta, Google and other tech giants following the massive hiring during the Coveid-19 pandemic.
According to California's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, also known as WARN, Apple laid off 614 workers at several offices on March 27.
The job cuts are related to the company's failed plans to produce an electric car, ending a project that has struggled for 10 years.
The iPhone maker had devoted nearly 2,000 employees to its secretive car development program, Bloomberg reported, but ran afoul of the increasingly competitive electric vehicle (EV) sector.
The full scope of the layoffs may be broader, as Apple is only required by law to notify layoffs in California. /BGNES