Apple is apparently looking for marginal cost savings and additional efficiency gains by moving more of its sales-related functions to third-party retailers, and is now resorting to gutting some of the seemingly extraneous sales-focused jobs as a result.

According to Bloomberg, as it aims to simplify and streamline the channel it uses to sell products to schools, businesses, and government entities.

The recently gutted roles include account managers for major clients, including large businesses, educational institutes, and government agencies, as well as the staff at Apple's briefing centers for major customers.

While most employees have been surprised with the sudden layoff decision, they can still apply for other positions within the company, softening the blow somewhat. Apple told Bloomberg:

"We are continuing to hire and those employees can apply for new roles."

Critically, the laid off employees now have until January 20 to find a new role within Apple. Failure to do so will result in termination and the concurrent activation of the attendant severance package.

Most of the laid off employees believe that the tech giant is trying to shift a larger proportion of its sales-related burden onto third-party retailers, which should result in material cost savings.

Do note that Apple has generally shied away from large-scale layoffs, opting for scalpel-like cuts to its sizable workforce instead. Even so, the company has had some relatively minor layoff waves:

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