Apple cuts jobs across its sales organization in rare layoff

Apple Inc. has eliminated dozens of sales roles in a bid to streamline the way it offers products to businesses, schools and governments, marking a rare layoff for the iPhone maker.

- MARK GURMAN

KIICHIRO SATO Associated Press THE CUTS include workers who'd been with Apple for 20 or 30 years. Above, an Apple store in Chicago.

Management notified the affected workers over the last couple of weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The cuts extended across the sales organization hitting some teams especially hard though the company didn't tell employees how many roles were involved.

The affected jobs included account managers serving major businesses, schools and government agencies, as well as the staffers who operate Apple's briefing centers for institutional meetings and product demonstrations for prospective major customers.

Apple confirmed Monday that it's reshuffling the division, without giving specifics.

"To connect with even more customers, we are making some changes in our sales team that affect a small number of roles," a spokesperson for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said in a statement. "We are continuing to hire and those employees can apply for new roles."