Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported Apple planned large AppleCare cuts tied to automated phone and web agents, but the company has put those plans on hold indefinitely while it continues to use a new virtual support assistant that can hand callers off to humans.
Apple considered laying off roughly 5,000 support employees to shift some work to automated phone and web agents, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Apple already routes U.S. and Canada AppleCare callers to a new generative-AI-powered support assistant, which can escalate calls to human advisors.
Apple recently cut some middle management roles, including about half a dozen director-level positions.
Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman told MacRumors that Apple at one point planned to lay off about 5,000 support employees, with the idea that automated phone and web agents could take over some of the tasks those staff handle. According to the report, Apple has put those layoff plans on hold indefinitely and is not currently pursuing a mass reduction of AppleCare staff.
Beyond the reported plan affecting front-line support staff, Apple has also made smaller cuts in middle management. The report says the company recently removed roughly half a dozen directors. The scope and timing of those management reductions were not detailed in the MacRumors summary of Gurman's reporting.
What this means for customers and employees
For customers: Apple's support line now uses an automated assistant for initial troubleshooting. The system still provides a path to human help, but some callers report mixed experiences when automated systems cannot route an issue to the right department quickly.
For AppleCare employees: The paused plan means a large-scale layoff is not happening right now, but the company's continued deployment of automated support tools leaves uncertainty about future hiring, staffing levels, or renewed layoffs. The report explicitly said it remains to be seen whether Apple will revisit the idea or reduce hiring for AppleCare roles.
The MacRumors piece links this development to broader industry activity: other large tech companies have explored or moved forward with automation and job reductions in recent months. The story notes that Apple is not alone in testing automation to handle customer-facing tasks, and that internal restructuring can include both automation pilots and targeted cuts in management.
Apple tested a plan to replace thousands of support jobs with automated agents but has paused the plan. The company is already using an automated support assistant for AppleCare calls that can escalate to humans. There are also recent, smaller cuts in middle management. The situation remains unsettled: Apple could revisit layoffs or adjust hiring later, but no large-scale AppleCare cuts are currently underway according to the report.
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