Apple fires 600 engineers after canceling car project - biggest layoff since Pandemic

A few weeks ago, Apple closed its long-standing project to create a driverless electric car, and now has announced the reduction of 614 employees - according to documents provided to the California Employment Development Department (although Mark Gurman notes that the actual figure may be significantly higher).

CNBC writes that employees were informed of the layoffs on March 28 - however, the changes will take effect on May 27. This is the largest reduction for Apple since the pandemic - the iPhone manufacturer was growing slower than other technology companies at the time, so it did not resort to large-scale layoffs in the post-COVID period.

In the layoff announcement, Apple does not mention specific projects to which the dismissed employees were assigned - however, it is known that they worked outside the company's headquarters, in smaller satellite offices involved in secret initiatives, such as the electric car project.

According to San Francisco Chronicle, Apple cut positions for mechanical workshop managers, hardware engineers, and design engineers.

Recently, Mark Gurman from Bloomberg reported that Apple has taken on new secret projects - and is likely developing a home robot and a device with a smart display.