Apple Is Starting To Lay Off Beats Employees

Apple has just about completed its acquisition of Beats Music, and in turn, layoffs have begun, according to 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman.

After weeks of buzz, Apple officially announced the Beats acquisition on May 28. Part of the $3 billion deal included Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre joining Apple, but apparently not all of the company's employees will be as lucky.

According to Gurman's sources who were briefed on the transition, Apple has begun shifting some of the employees and technology from Beats to Apple, moving some to Cupertino while still keeping space in Santa Monica - emphasis on "some."

Apple executives visited Beats' headquarters this week and last to notify employees that won't be making the transition.

Gurman's sources claim that many of the development and creative roles will be kept on, while employees in support, finance, and HR are having less luck. Some have already been laid off, while some will maintain their jobs until January 2015. A few have been offered positions in Cupertino.

Beats employees have apparently been given access to a hotline to speak with Apple Human Resources staff about severance packages or transition plans.

Apple has also started working on transitioning over Beats' technology, and is reportedly having some difficulty syncing it with Apple's existing servers, so there may be some technological restructuring as well.