Apple Lays Off 260 People During December Quarter

by , 9:00 AM EST, February 11th, 2003

Remember that charge that Apple took during the December quarter? C|Net's Ian Fried dug into Apple's SEC filings to find that Apple laid off 260 people during the quarter. Apple has been laying off people from its corporate and manufacturing operations during the last several years, while adding head count through the company's expanding retail operations.

According to the C|Net article, the job cuts came from closing a manufacturing plant in Singapore, as well as shifts in its PowerSchool business, which has been previously reported on the Internet. From the C|Net article:

In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Apple said that 197 of the 260 job cuts had been made by Dec. 28, the end of its first quarter. The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker said when it reported first-quarter earnings last month that it was taking a charge to cover restructuring actions, but did not say then how many jobs were being cut.

The cuts included those related to the closing of the Singapore plant in the company's fourth quarter, reductions in the PowerSchool unit and "the termination of various sales and marketing activities in the United States and Europe," according to the filing.

The article notes that Apple's overall head count continues to grow. Also of note in the article is news that Apple will be opening more of its larger-design Apple Store retail locations in 2003. These stores are similar to the store in SoHo (Manhattan), and offer a much higher profile, while substantially higher costs. Read the full article for more information.

The Mac Observer Spin:

What's not mentioned in the article is that Apple is the only PC manufacturer that has not laid off thousands of workers during the last 3 years. Dell, HP, and Gateway, as well as most of the Asian PC companies have laid off many thousands of employees in major fits of restructuring. By contrast, Apple has laid off several hundred during the last 24 months, while growing the overall head count through its retail operations.

Some armchair critics have said retail employees are not the same as employees in the manufacturing sector, or corporate operations. While true, at least in some ways, even if you don't count those retail employees, Apple remains alone of all PC manufacturers as having not made wholesale restructuring changes to its operations. Instead, the company has been tweaking its employee structure, and that's not too bad considering the miserable economy and tech market. Compare it to the competition, and it looks even better.

Of course, that's little solace to those employees who have been let go, and we wish those people the best of luck going forward.

There are two reasons why Apple has not made big nasty layoffs: The company is well structured to begin with, and Apple execs have repeatedly stated that the company will not mortgage its brain trust. In other words, Apple is taking a long-term look at its business model, and not seeking short term profit boosts by axing those people who make Apple go. In the long run, that outlook will end up leaving Apple a much stronger and healthier company, and that's a Good Thing™.