CNET reports, via an SEC filing, that Apple has cut back their full-time retail workforce by a full 1600 employees—from 15600 to 14000—in the last quarter alone, during which they only opened one new retail outlet.

The press narrative so far this year has been that Apple has bucked the recession, outperforming the industry and minimizing an inevitable sales slowdown after an impressive Q1. And this narrative holds: Apple has done well on paper while its competitors haven't. It's just, now we sort of know how. [CNET] [Note: Some have suggested that some employees have scaled back their hours and been subtracted from the "full-time" figure. This is plausible, but either way it's a pretty rough cutback.]

One industry source described the firings as "huge," the other as "massive." I think we get the point. In the wake of Circuit City's death, Best Buy is firing a lot of store-level employees starting in meetings at 7am tomorrow morning (which is not a huge surprise, as 4,000 members of Best Buy corporate-level have already been offered buy-outs).

Apparently, store management was informed today. The unlucky employees to be fired will be informed tomorrow (Saturday).

UPDATE: One source has updated that "Salaried management positions (GMs, Sales Managers, Operation managers, etc,) will be looked at being cut...It's a nation-wide [cutback] to further reduce overhead, and the stores have already been prepped for it, but announcements will happen tomorrow. Many cuts are being given the opportunity to drop to $12/hr, but maintain a position."

UPDATE 2: We've gotten a lot more confirmation since this story was published. One leadership-level employee clarifies that few to no specific layoffs are necessarily happening, but to stay, you'll of course need to take a paycut:

"1) No employees are getting fired(to my knowledge), everyone is being retained.
2) Some employees are getting their pay cut to $12.00 (me), but Best Buy will be "bridging" the gap between your current pay and the drop for 9 months. So say you made $14 an hour, you will now get a check at the beginning of each month for $14 - $12, $2 * 38 hours a week * 4 weeks a month. Really not a bad deal, think of another company that has ever done this, giving you 9 months to get promoted or find a new job. [Ed note: I really don't understand corporate metrics]
3) None of the changes go into effect until June.
4) The positions that are being cut are sales seniors (a sub-supervisor role), and they are merging some departments to have one supervisor control multiple areas. These changes will be announced later in April.
5) No changes to management have been announced yet.
6) Employees were also offered a severance package, not a very good one. 2 weeks of pay per year of employment with at least 6 months of COBRA."

Surprisingly, this isn't the first time that Panasonic all but forced its employees to buy company goods. It did the same in 2002, during the last down-economy.

Higher-level managers need to purchase 200,000 yen ($2,200) worth of stuff, whereas mid-level managers will make do with 100,000 yen ($1,100). This may seem awful at first, but being forced to buy gadgets is kinda awesome. "Sorry honey, we really DO need this 65-inch Plasma. Do you want me to get fired, or do you want our son's teeth to be straight. PICK ONE!" [Trading Markets via Crunchgear]

Among the basic advertisements for hardware and software we find a few hints here an there about Microsoft's internal culture and the mindset of their employees. The best, by far, is the shirt that features the message "Think your iPhone is cool? Let me show you a thing or two about Windows Mobile." Hmm...yes. Windows Mobile. Cool.

No matter where your loyalties lie, you have to admit that even the most die hard Microsoft fan would move quickly to eliminate any reminder of the employer that left them high and dry. Then again, there are always exceptions to the rule. Hit the link to check out the rest of the shirts spotted in the $2 bargain bin. [Tech Flash via Boing Boing Gadgets]

If it were me, I would be in an alley somewhere using my last $20 to have the tattoo carved off my arm by a drifter weilding a piece of broken glass—but not Dan. He remains optimistic:

Working at Microsoft has been the greatest experience of my life and I have no desire to forget about it. And even if I don’t get back into Microsoft right away (which is, by the way, my plan!), then I have a reminder that even outside of Microsoft, I need to do my best to change the world every single day.

I have to give the guy credit for staying so upbeat in the face of such disappointment. Keep your chin up brother—it could be worse. You could be this guy. [Dan Woodman via Crunchgear via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Our friend Todd Bishop over at TechFlash did some number crunching, and found that Robbie Bach's E&D division was an easy target for the slice, because its head was sticking up so much higher than the rest. From the end of 2007 to the end of 2008, R&D spending had increased 37%, by far the most. The total R&D cost for half a year approached $1 billion, whereas Windows R&D only bumped up to less than $500 million. Although Windows made 18 times the profit.

The acquisition of Danger (inventors of the Sidekick) was one legitimate reason for the soar, and a reason why even after cutting, we still might see some slick Windows Mobile 6.5 action, which you can learn about here and here. But we hope that the development of Zune and Xbox, two of Microsoft's best products in recent years, does not suffer while they're still improving.

Bishop notes the sudden battery of budget cuts directed to E&D—and particularly layoffs to the games staff—indicates that Microsoft was probably caught off guard by the sudden economic downturn. Check out TechFlash for pretty charts and big hairy numbers. [TechFlash]

Flight Simulator debuted in 1982, making it one of the longest-running continuous franchises in the gaming industry. Both barely a game and so much more, Flight Simulator was an experience, and one of the first things on a computer that truly astonished me. I was flying (and crashing!) a real plane, really (virtually)! And all on my piece-of-crap Packard Bell that made me jealous of my friends' Gateways, which ran way better than my computer for reasons I didn't understand at the time.

So, what was your first Flight Simulator memory? [Gamasutra via Kotaku]

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Below are a few sporadic examples of the horror you'll find within a Circuit City this weekend. However, this one damning tidbit I'll provide beforehand might be all you need to know.

Allegedly, one of our tipsters told us today that their Circuit City actually had the audacity to sell new, unopened Nintendo GameCubes for $50. Insanity!

But wait, there's more:

• Consumers were apparently "swarming everywhere," breathless with questions for employees who were not there to answer them
• Questions for managers were directed to the liquidators; they had no power there anymore
•
• "One male employee in the section I was browsing, spent most of the time I was there (about 15 minutes) pleading ignorance and searching for a manager who never (apparently) materialized," said a source at CNET.

Deals were reportedly about 10% off, 20% on movies. Hellish. [CNET via Kotaku — Thanks, Vince!]

The voluntary plan includes 7.5 months of severance pay along with one year of health care, life insurance and outplacement services to those who leave the company now to January 5th. Employees whose age plus years with the company reach 60 will receive 12 months of severance.

Best Buy has not publicly announced their target number of buyouts or other cost cutting measures, but they have alluded to the idea that there is more to come. With Circuit City down, what's left? Best Buy and Wal-Mart, which means we need to keep a close eye on both to see where we'll be shopping in the future. [The Business Review]

It's just a weird post on Netflix's outward-facing blog. On the one hand, it's bragging that their new player is so simple that fewer people need help setting it up. On the other hand, they're talking about people being let go, which is strange, since they follow up with a line that says "...Netflix as a whole as we continue to add engineers and other positions throughout the company."

That just leaves our reaction to Netflix's announcement. WTF Really? [Netflix via CNN Gigaom]

Says Sprint spokeslady Lisa Zimmerman-Mott:

"What is happening is Sprint is offering a personal decision for employees to take advantage of a voluntary separation package. No one is being forced to do anything. There are no forced reductions. There are no layoffs in store. It's a matter of employees having the option to exercise discretion. No targets have been announced."

Supposedly, improving customer service was one of CEO Dan Hesse's major goals when he took over the beleaguered carrier, but we're wondering how shedding staff is gonna help that. Also, how long before the pink slips go from voluntary to mandatory? We can't help but think this move is simply to make a coming massacre slightly less bloody. [Fierce Wireless via Consumerist]

Results from "Will You Finally Go Blu-ray This Holiday?"

Yes 11%
No (Economic reasons) 11%
No (Blu-ray is a placeholder format) 24%
No (Other) 13%
Maybe 10%
I already made the switch. 32%