Apple's Employee Count Grew This Year Despite Smaller-Scale Layoffs

Apple's employee count grew in 2024, despite reports that the company had at least four incidents of smaller-scale layoffs this year.

imac video apple feature
As of late September, Apple had approximately 164,000 full-time employees worldwide, the company disclosed in a filing last week. That's up from the 161,000 full-time employees that Apple reported a year ago. These figures include corporate employees, such as software engineers, and retail employees at its stores.

Apple now has as many employees as it did in 2022, following a slight decrease last year.

Apple's full-time employee counts by year, per the company's filings:

  • 2024: 164,000
  • 2023: 161,000
  • 2022: 164,000
  • 2021: 154,000
  • 2020: 147,000
  • 2019: 137,000
  • 2018: 132,000

Apple laid off more than 600 employees this year after canceling its long-running electric vehicle project, according to a notice the company filed in California. The company also relocated a Siri evaluation team from San Diego, California to Austin, Texas, and some on the 120-person team who were not willing to make the long-distance move were laid off.

Apple also cut around 100 jobs across its Apple Books and Apple News teams this year, and laid off some employees after abandoning its plan to develop in-house Apple Watch displays with micro-LED technology, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

While some other tech companies like Google and Microsoft have laid off tens of thousands of employees over the past two years, Apple has managed to avoid larger-scale layoffs in that time. With its employee count once again at an all-time high, and its quarterly revenues in record territory again, Apple is heading into 2025 on a good note.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
imac video apple feature

Apple Launching These 15+ Products Later This Year

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors. Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each. iPhone 17 Series iPho...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Here's Which Vehicles Offer iPhone Car Keys

Sunday July 6, 2025 3:03 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. Apple has a web page with a list of vehicle models that ...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iphone 17 pro render majin bu

New iPhone 17 Pro Renders Highlight Apple Logo and MagSafe Design Changes

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:43 pm PDT by
New renders today provide the best look yet relocated Apple logo and redesigned MagSafe magnet array of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Image via Majin Bu. Several of the design changes coming to the iPhone 17 Pro model have been rumored for some time, such as the elongated camera bump that spans the full width of the device, with the LiDAR Scanner and flash moving to the right side. ...
Prime Day 25 Feature Warm Triad

The Best Early Prime Day Deals on Apple Products

Saturday July 5, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Amazon is soon to be back with its annual summertime Prime Day event, lasting for four days from July 8-11, the longest Prime Day yet. As it does every year, Prime Day offers shoppers a huge selection of deals across Amazon's storefront, and there are already many deals you can get on sale ahead of the event. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a ...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...

Top Rated Comments

Stromos Avatar
9 months ago
Layoff QA engineers hire more emoji designers! /s
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CrysisDeu Avatar
9 months ago

I wonder too. I've never worked in tech, or even adjacent to tech.

I have a cousin that is a developer at the spaceship, and he strictly works internal software used at the retail locations. I guess there are all types of positions that don't work on consumer-facing things.
I work in tech, things don’t go as fast as you would expect. But Apple moves sooo slow..

Huawei have 207,000 full time employees, Samsung electronics have 267,800, Xiaomi 32,500 for comparison.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
9 months ago

You think they'd have enough people to figure out how to get the Magic Mouse to charge without flipping it over. ?
Those people were moved to work on the Mac mini's power button. In the end they were like "F it. Let's be consistent and put it on the bottom like the charging port of the Magic Mouse."
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Schmitti81 Avatar
9 months ago
With 160000 people:
If they stay in average 4 years, Apple needs to higher about 40000 per year in average or about 150 per work day.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacTwick Avatar
9 months ago
I want to mention that Apple offered other positions to the majority of the people on the car project. And to those who didn't get offered another position, they were given 90 days to apply internally for another role at Apple.

This is much different than a traditional layoff we see happening daily in tech, and is very misleading.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coffeemilktea Avatar
9 months ago
You think they'd have enough people to figure out how to get the Magic Mouse to charge without flipping it over. ?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)