Amid the news of Apple working on a host of AI-based features for a launch in 2024, it seems a distressing news is awaiting a few employees working on these endeavours. The Cupertino-based tech giant will reportedly shut down a San Diego office that houses a team of 121 employees, Bloomberg citing sources said. The aim is to merge the staff with the Texas team and relocate to Austin for this purpose. This risks the future employment of the Data Operations Annotations group.
While the plan has not been announced officially yet, Mark Gurman, a reliable name for Apple-related leaks, claims in the report that the staff can make a decision to relocate by February. If the workers choose not to switch locations, the termination bells might ring loudly on April 26. The group in question is responsible for improving the company's voice assistant Siri in select languages.
The announcement was reportedly made by Christine DeFilippo, a top deputy of John Giannandrea, the company's AI chief, Bloomberg's sources requesting anonymity said. A spokeswoman from the company confirmed the relocation activity. "Everyone currently employed will have the opportunity to continue their role with Apple in Austin," the Apple representative said. The San Diego staff was given package boxes for relocation.
As per the sources, the majority of workers are "unwilling" to head to Austin for the change. While Apple suggests that the employees apply for other jobs, the lack of an engineering background is a major hurdle for some. This could lead to the termination or exit of the staff from the company. As of September last year, Apple had a total of 1,61,000 employees.
The company managed to keep layoffs at a minimum due to not over-hiring in the booming times of COVID-19-induced lockdowns. Gurman noted that the company will give $7,000 relocation stipends if the staff continues to sustain in the role. The ones who are removed will receive four weeks of severance and additional benefits depending on the year of service at Apple.