Apple lays off 600 workers after moving away from self-driving car plans

April 5 (UPI) -- Tech giant Apple has laid off more than 600 workers in California after abandoning its self-driving car and smartwatch display projects, according to a report.

Apple noted the reduction in its California Employment Development Department filing as part of its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, according to Bloomberg. Apple filed WARN documents to comply with state requirements.

The report revealed that 87 employees from the screen development project were affected by the layoffs and the remaining from the car project that Apple has never publicly acknowledged.

The cuts came at Apple's satellite offices and not its main headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., CNBC reported.

Apple had quietly joined Ford, General Motors, and others in trying to develop self-driving electric vehicles but in recent years has pulled away with costs jumping and the technology appearing to be further away than originally thought.

Apple's layoffs come on the heels of Amazon, Google, Microsoft, PayPal and Snap all announcing employee downsizings this year.