Apple Shelves Plan to Cut 5,000 AppleCare Jobs
Apple reportedly considered replacing about 5,000 AppleCare support positions with AI-powered agents but has now put the proposed job cuts on hold indefinitely.
Apple recently considered cutting roughly 5,000 AppleCare support jobs as part of a plan to use artificial intelligence to handle more customer-service responsibilities. According to reporting by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company believed AI-powered phone and web agents could take over some tasks currently performed by human support workers. Apple has since shelved the proposed cuts and is not currently moving forward with the plan.
The proposal comes as Apple expands its use of generative AI in customer support. Customers in the United States and Canada can already encounter an AI-powered assistant when contacting AppleCare by phone. The system can answer questions and provide troubleshooting instructions, while customers can still be transferred to a human advisor if the AI cannot resolve an issue or if they specifically request human assistance.
The reported plan would have affected around 5,000 support employees, although Apple has not announced such layoffs publicly. The company is instead continuing to evaluate how AI can automate certain internal processes and improve efficiency. The development comes as new CEO John Ternus reviews Apple’s organisational structure and looks for ways to make the company operate with fewer management layers and move products through development more quickly.
Apple has nevertheless made other organisational changes in recent weeks. Bloomberg reporting cited by Reuters said the company’s hardware engineering division had begun reducing engineering program-management positions, including several director-level roles. Smaller workforce reductions have also affected teams working on Siri, Vision Pro and AI-related software engineering, although some of those changes were reportedly connected to employee performance rather than an overall AI replacement strategy.
The decision to pause the AppleCare cuts illustrates the uncertainty surrounding AI-driven workforce changes. While Apple is already deploying AI in customer support and considering broader automation, the company has not committed to replacing thousands of human advisors at this stage. The proposed cuts could potentially be revisited as Apple’s AI systems become more capable, but for now, the reported 5,000-position reduction remains on hold.
