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HP announces up to 6,000 job cuts as Apple trims sales roles in latest tech layoffs

HP plans to cut up to 6,000 jobs by 2028 as part of a broader AI-driven restructuring, while Apple has quietly eliminated dozens of sales roles.

Fresh layoffs at HP and Apple highlight ongoing cost-cutting across the tech sector. (Image: FreePik)

The tech layoff wave seems to have swept over hundreds of thousands of professionals this week, with big names like Apple and HP announcing major job cuts. HP Inc., on Tuesday, November 25, said that it is likely to cut 4,000 to 6,000 jobs worldwide by 2028. The Palo Alto-based tech giant said that the move is in alignment with its larger plan to streamline operations and embrace AI to ramp up product development, boost productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction.

As part of the announcement, HP CEO Enrique Lores said that the company’s staff from teams working on product development, internal operations, and customer support will be impacted. The CEO spoke about the potential impact of layoffs during a media briefing. He added that the company expects to create about $1 billion in gross run rate savings over the next three years. Earlier this year, HP sacked over 2,000 of its workforce as part of its previously announced restructuring plan.

Similarly, on Tuesday, it was reported that Apple Inc. eliminated dozens of sales roles to streamline its product offerings for businesses, schools, and government agencies. Reportedly, the latest round of layoffs at Apple impacted account managers and staff responsible for handling Apple’s briefing centres for institutional meetings and product demos. According to a Bloomberg report, the iPhone maker confirmed its reshuffling, asserting that it is making changes to connect more with customers. The company also said that the affected employees can apply for new roles within Apple.

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Reportedly, Apple notified the affected workers over the past few weeks. The job cuts impacted across the sales organisation, with some teams being hit severely. However, Apple has refrained from divulging the actual number of employees impacted. The latest job cuts come weeks after the tech giant slashed about 20 roles in its teams based in Australia and New Zealand.

The latest development comes at a time when Apple’s revenue has been on the rise and it is set to make sales worth $140 billion in the December quarter. In October, it was reported that Apple topped $4 trillion in market value for the first time, making it the third big tech company to hit the milestone. While internally, it has been reported that Apple is viewing these layoffs as part of its vision to streamline its sales teams and reduce the overlapping of roles. However, some reports also suggest that the move is likely an effort to transfer more of its sales to third-party resellers, which Apple terms as ‘channels’. Companies often opt for indirect sellers to reduce internal costs like salaries. It needs to be noted that unlike other tech giants, Apple views layoffs as a ‘last resort’ and is seldom seen announcing massive job cuts compared to Google, Amazon, or Meta.

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According to layoff.fyi, the month of October saw 21 companies lay off as many as 18,510 employees, with companies like Amazon announcing that it was planning to lay off over 14,000 corporate workers with its burgeoning investments in AI. The e-commerce giant said that it is cutting jobs to make the company leaner and less bureaucratic as it looks at boosting its investments in AI. This would be the biggest corporate job cuts in the history of Amazon.

Meanwhile, in November, 20 tech companies have so far laid off 4,545 employees. The biggest layoffs this month were carried out by chip-design software maker Synopsys, which laid off about 2,000 of its employees, constituting nearly 10 per cent of its workforce. A regulatory filing revealed that the company trimmed its workforce in an effort to redirect its investments towards growth opportunities. This year so far 1,114,124 employees have been handed over the pink slip by 237 tech companies.