Project Titan (autonomous vehicle group) is about to lay off over 200 people. Some have been offered positions in other groups but ultimately 200 will be leaving the company - some work will be moved to the ML/AI groups, but this is if for Project Titan. There were cuts in 2016 when my wife was laid off - so this is the second round.
Not sure about other layoffs at Apple, I have many friends that work there and their jobs are pretty stable (long hours tho).
Hope this helps.
Most of the contractors are being removed!!
Apple did in fact lay off all recruiting contractors (recruiters and coordinators) in both Austin and SCV. This came swiftly after a hiring freeze (except for critical roles) was announced in the beginning of January, after fourth quarter earnings were missed and stock value dipped. This exact thing happened three years ago. A hiring freeze was announced after fourth quarter earnings were missed - contractors were dismissed and two months later, 80% of recruiting received pink slips. Way to give things a minute to settle down Apple....
Well is not only this group. My partner was part of a 20 people group of contractors let go yesterday. This is Austin, Texas; I keep searching for more info but I don't see reports on other divisions layoffs;
Level 5 self driving cars are, let's say, about 20 years away.
Apple just acknowledged that they do understand this and are reluctant to burn money.
You will see this spread to other companies as well.
Apple rarely does layoffs even after acquisition. When Beats got acquired they offered the people an option to work in the Cupertino office. Now, the commute was too long. for pretty much everybody so there was a big exodus from Apple as people wanted to have normal lives and not spend all day driving. A very few chose to stay.
Sometimes after Apple acquires people leave due to culture clashes that are inevitable, especially if you are coming from a startup where everything is nimble and many things are unstructured. Folks get shocked when they hit redtape at Apple (not as bad as at other companies, but it still exist). Yeah, the culture will be different and some cope with that better than others.
all over the news now:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/24/apple-lays-off-over-200-from-project-titan-autonomous-vehicle-group.html