Apple Cuts Back On Retail Staffing As Sales Slow

Apple (AAPL) is cutting costs as its retail division underperforms the rest of its business: In a SEC filing (via CNET), the company reported that it now employs 14,000 "full-time-equivalent" worth of retail workers, down 1,600 from the end of 2008.

That's a roughly 10% staffing cut, but as Peter Kafka notes at MediaMemo, it's not necessarily a staff reduction. "Full-time equivalent" means just that -- the equivalent of one person working a full-time job. It could also be two people working half-time jobs; which means that Apple could have just cut back on workers' hours without cutting back on personnel. Apple wouldn't comment to MediaMemo, referring Kafka to its SEC filing.