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Apple Reduces Retail Workforce by 10% Over Last Quarter

Friday April 24, 2009 7:21 am PDT by Eric Slivka
CNET notes that, according Apple's 10-Q document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in association with the release of its earnings for the second fiscal quarter of 2009, Apple reduced the number of employees in its retail store division from 15,600 to approximately 14,000 full-time equivalents during the quarter.

The retail arm of the company now employs 14,000 full-time equivalent workers, down from 15,600 at the end of Apple's first fiscal quarter, according to a filing with the SEC. Reports surfaced late last year that Apple was looking into ways to reduce the number of hours worked by part-time employees as a hedge against a coming recession.

The report also noted that Apple opened only one new retail store during the quarter. The new store is located in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Update: We failed to stress in the original article that the numbers are "full-time equivalents", meaning that several part-time employees would be counted as one full-time employment. The decline in full-time equivalents appears to have been primarily due to Apple scaling back the hours of its part time employees and not through any layoffs.
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amac4me
37 months ago
Clearly a sign of the times. :(
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Jack Flash
37 months ago
Record profits....
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Michael73
37 months ago
Maybe it's the fact that the Keystone Crossing store is the only one in Indiana but even though it always seems like there's a ton of employees, it always seems like there's even more customers who need help. Frankly, many are lined up for a Genius Bar appointment.

The interesting thing about the CNET info is that it's reducing hours worked by part-time employees it doesn't indicate a cost savings associated with the measure or whether the time slack was picked up by FTEs.
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Grimace
37 months ago
There is always a beefed up force for the holiday shopping period that are then not continued on much after January 31.

Most of this is a natural cycle...
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twoodcc
37 months ago
well that's just too bad. hopefully they'll continue to open more stores, which create more jobs
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Lancetx
37 months ago

There is always a beefed up force for the holiday shopping period that are then not continued on much after January 31.

Most of this is a natural cycle...


Of course it is, but CNET never uses any common sense in their reporting. It's all about the doom and gloom. :rolleyes:
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WildCowboy
37 months ago

There is always a beefed up force for the holiday shopping period that are then not continued on much after January 31.

Most of this is a natural cycle...


Last year they went from 11,600 at the end of the December quarter to 12,000 at the end of the March quarter. They opened 4 new stores in the March quarter of 2008.

So it's not really normal, although not unexpected given the previous rumors and the recent economic troubles.
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ppnkg
37 months ago
unsurprising...it is a known fact that thriving corporations feed on human lives.
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zombitronic
37 months ago

Of course it is, but CNET never uses any common sense in their reporting. It's all about the doom and gloom. :rolleyes:


The worst part is the that story is spreading like wildfire. More sites are just playing telephone, reporting that some other site reported without any further investigation.

On a day that the market is up, that other tech stocks are up, a day after MSFT missed their earnings yet are WAY up, two days after Apple had another record quarter, AAPL is down. Eff the system.
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Gasu E.
37 months ago

The worst part is the that story is spreading like wildfire. More sites are just playing telephone, reporting that some other site reported without any further investigation.

On a day that the market is up, that other tech stocks are up, a day after MSFT missed their earnings yet are WAY up, two days after Apple had another record quarter, AAPL is down. Eff the system.


I doubt one thing has to do with another. Given the times, layoffs have been generally interpreted as a sign that management is willing to "take the necessary steps". My company's stock jumped 5% when a layoff was announced.
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