Apple has taken an unusual turn this month by cutting dozens of jobs from its global sales division, a development that has upset many employees. The company is coming off one of its strongest quarters in years, yet teams inside Apple say they’ve started receiving notices about eliminating roles in the past few weeks. For a company that rarely makes widespread layoffs, the announcement has sparked surprise and confusion, especially since Apple has insisted the latest move is part of a plan to reach more customers, not a sign of financial stress.

People familiar with the restructuring told Bloomberg that the cuts hit several parts of Apple’s sales organization. Account managers who handle relationships with major corporate clients, schools and universities, as well as government agencies were among those affected. Employees who run Apple’s private briefing centers, places where product demonstrations are shown to major customers, also found their roles included in the overhaul. Employees were not told how many positions were being eliminated in total, but multiple teams are reportedly affected.

The company has publicly acknowledged the changes but refrained from providing details. “To connect with even more customers, we’re making some changes to our sales team that affect a small number of roles. We’re continuing to hire, and those employees can apply for the new roles,” Apple said in its official statement. Internally, the message is that the sales department is being streamlined and overlapping duties are being addressed.

Yet another explanation is prevalent among some of the departing employees. He believes the company is trying to drive more business through third-party resellers, called “channels” internally. The logic is simple: Many organizations prefer to deal with resellers anyway, and selling more outside of Apple allows the company to reduce payroll costs while serving the same customers. To them, restructuring looks less like an efficiency exercise and more like a strategic move to relieve responsibility.

This latest round of cuts follows smaller cuts recently made in Australia and New Zealand, where around 20 roles were removed. In the current wave, even employees who have been with Apple for decades have been affected. One of the most affected groups is the government sales teams that handle accounts such as the US Department of Defense and Department of Justice. His workload was already stressful due to the lengthy US government shutdown and strict spending rules from the Department of Government Efficiency, which was putting pressure on agencies to reduce spending.

Employees whose positions have been eliminated have until January 20 to find another role within the company. Apple is offering severance to those unable to secure a transfer and is currently advertising several sales openings. The company has encouraged affected employees to apply for these roles, although some may feel that the available positions may not match their previous responsibilities.

The decision also reflects the leadership structure of Apple’s sales operations. The division reports directly to CEO Tim Cook and is led by longtime executive Mike Fenger. Earlier this year, Fenger’s deputy, Vivek Thakkar, expanded his responsibilities to include all enterprise and education sales worldwide. Sources say the ongoing changes are in line with that change in oversight.

Although Apple has avoided major layoffs, the company has made difficult decisions in the last year due to changes in global circumstances. Several high-profile projects were canceled, including a long-running autonomous car program and internal demonstration technology efforts, leading to job losses in hardware, AI and services teams.

Compared to the broader tech industry, Apple’s cuts are still modest. Amazon recently announced more than 14,000 layoffs, and Meta cut several hundred roles in its AI group. Apple’s move doesn’t come close to those numbers, but internally it marks one of the more notable restructurings in recent years, especially because it comes at a time when the company is preparing a new entry-level laptop aimed at expanding its reach among business and education buyers.