Apple is laying off 614 workers in California, according to a new statement from the state, the first significant job cuts since the Covid pandemic

This comes a few weeks after Apple canceled a long-running self-driving electric car project that was being developed by a team called the Special Projects Group.  The positions that have been cut include machine shop supervisors, hardware engineers, and product design engineers.

Employees were officially notified of the layoffs on March 28, and the changes took effect on May 27. Apple did not have to resort to the same staff reductions as other tech companies, largely because the iPhone maker grew more slowly than its competitors during the pandemic. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the current situation.