OAN’s James Meyers
8:52 AM -Friday, April 5, 2024
Apple is reportedly laying off 614 workers after canceling a 10-year project to build a self-driving electric car in its first round of job cuts since the start of COVID-19.
The iPhone making company notified employees of the layoffs on March 28th, with changes to take effect on May 27th, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bloomberg reported last month that the company had canceled plans to develop its own displays for the Apple Watch and laid off workers, with the “cost and complexity” proved too much.
Additionally, the layoffs cover hardware engineers, machine shop managers and product design engineers linked to the secret project.
The move also comes just a month after Apple stopped its Electric Vehicle (EV) plans and switched its focus on artificial intelligence.
During the layoff announcement in late February, Apple also told 2,000 staffers working on the high-tech vehicle that the company would stop working on the electric powered car, known as the Special Projects Group (SPG).
According to The Wall Street Journal, CEO Tik Cook claimed last year that layoffs at Apple would be a last resort during a time of slower hiring and cost cutting.
Last year, Apple was able to avoid massive layoffs after employees at several tech companies were laid off including companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft.
Currently, there have been 57,785 total employees laid off by tech companies since 2023, according to the tracker Layoffs.fyi.
Meanwhile, demand for electric vehicles has continued to dwindle in the United States, while an increase in demand has continued in the international sector.
Ford announced this week that it has delayed production of three-row EVs in Canada and its next-generation electric pickup truck in Tennessee, citing decrease in demand.
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