Apple cut at least 600 employees when it ditched its car project
Apple laid off more than 600 US employees when it terminated its ambitious electric vehicle and smartwatch display projects.
The layoffs affected employees across various California addresses, with most from sites linked to the company’s now-defunct car unit dubbed Project Titan. At least 87 of the laid-off staff worked at a secret facility dedicated to Apple’s next-generation screen development.
Apple began winding down both initiatives in February. It scrapped its decade-long effort to build an electric car amid concerns over the project’s direction and costs and to focus attention on generative AI projects instead.
The announcement shook the almost 2,000 employees working on the self-driving vehicle, which was scheduled to launch in 2026.
Similarly, challenges in engineering, supplier management, and costs led to the closure of the smartwatch display programme.
Of the affected employees, 371 were based at Apple’s primary car-related office in California, while others worked at several satellite offices. Some members of the Apple car team were reassigned to different departments within the company, such as artificial intelligence or robotics.
Layoffs have battered the tech sector for a couple of years now since the pandemic hiring spree cooled off and budgets grew tighter. So far this year, more than 220 tech companies have slashed nearly 60,000 roles, according to data from industry tracker layoffs.fyi. Analysts have said this trend is unlikely to wane.
According to filings with the California Employment Development Department, Apple filed eight separate reports to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) programme. WARN requires companies to file a report for each California address affected by layoffs.
However, the WARN notices did not reveal the full extent of the job reductions, as Apple had numerous engineers working on both projects in other locations outside of California, such as Arizona.
Apple declined to comment on the exact number of employees impacted by the layoffs.