Apple tells dozens of employees in San Diego to move to Austin or face layoffs, report says

• Apple has told 121 staff in San Diego to move to Austin or face being laid off, Bloomberg reported.
• Most of them do not want to relocate, the outlet reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Apple has reportedly told 121 employees in San Diego to relocate to Austin or face being laid off.

Bloomberg reported the news, citing people familiar with the matter.

The tech giant issued the ultimatum and gave the workers until the end of February to choose whether they want to move. If they opt not to, they will be terminated on April 26, the report says.

People with knowledge of the matter said the employees told Bloomberg the majority of the 121 workers weren't willing to relocate.

The group of employees, part of the Data Operations Annotations team that works on Siri, were informed of the news Wednesday, the report said. Upon relocation they will merge with their Texas counterpart of the group, it added.

Apple issued a return-to-office mandate in March, requiring employees to go into the office at least three days a week, Platformer's Zoë Schiffer wrote in an X post.

Schiffer said Apple was monitoring employee attendance through badge records and that it would issue warnings to staff that didn't comply with the mandate.

Apple then scrapped roles in its corporate retail division in April, Business Insider's Hugh Langley reported. The company told staff in its Development and Preservation teams to reapply for their jobs or they would get laid off.

Unlike most other major tech firms including Meta, Amazon, and Google, Apple has been able to avoid making mass layoffs to its workforce since last year.

CEO Tim Cook told CNBC in an interview last year that it would be a "last resort" and not something the company was discussing at that time.

Apple was overtaken by Microsoft as the world's most valuable company last week. Microsoft reached a market cap of $2.89 trillion, while Apple's fell slightly to $2.87 trillion.

Tim Cook's company has faced cooling demand for its iPhone in China as its rival Huawei makes headway.

Apple's offering discounts of as much as $70 on some iPhones in China, Reuters reported. It's set to launch its Apple's Vision Pro headset in February, which one analyst said is expected to sell out soon after its release.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside of normal working hours.