Apple Deal Means 200 Beats Workers Will Need New Jobs

Apple, which is finishing up its $3 billion deal to buy Beats, has told some of its new hires that they won’t have their jobs for long.

People familiar with the two companies say that about 200 of Beats’ 700 workers were told last week their positions are temporary and will be eliminated within the next few months.

Apple and Beats officials aren’t describing the move as layoffs, but as “transitional” job offers at Apple.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr’s explanation: “We’re excited to have the Beats team join Apple, and we have extended job offers to every Beats employee. Because of some overlap in our operations, some offers are for a limited period and we’ll work hard during this time to find as many of these Beats employees as we can another permanent job within Apple.”

The job notices come as the Apple-Beats acquisition is set to formally close. Earlier this week, E.U. antitrust regulators approved the deal.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said the Beats acquisition builds upon the company’s digital music heritage, with its addition of a subscription service that incorporates human curation. Cook said the deal will begin generating profits for Apple in its upcoming fiscal year.

News of the cuts were reported by 9to5Mac and Bloomberg.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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