Amazon plans to cut 18,000 business and technology jobs in a significant expansion of its cost-cutting plans, the company’s CEO Andy Jassy said in an email to employees Wednesday.
The company previously planned to lay off about 10,000 employees late last year and early this year, The New York Times reported in mid-November. The initial layoffs focused primarily on the company’s device and book organizations. Human resources employees also received buyout offers to resign.
The new wave of layoffs will begin January 18, Mr Jassy said, and will focus on human resources and on the large division Amazon refers to as Stores. So are the teams behind Amazon’s main online site, the extensive field operations and warehouses, the physical stores and other consumer teams.
The 18,000 total cuts represent about 6 percent of Amazon’s workforce. Late last year, managers in several groups said they had been asked to prepare for potential layoffs, and workers were bracing for the cuts.
Hourly warehouse workers are not included in the layoffs. Amazon has typically reduced those jobs due to high turnover.
“These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure,” Mr. Jassy wrote. “However, I’m also optimistic that we’ll be inventive, resourceful, and sloppy during this time when we’re not mass hiring and eliminating some positions.”
The company more than doubled its workforce during the pandemic as customers flocked to online services. At the end of September, it had about 1.5 million employees.
However, Amazon’s growth slowed to its lowest level in two decades, and Mr. Jassy is troubled by the company’s over-expansion. Amazon recently warned investors that growth could weaken to the slowest pace since 2001.
Mr Jassy said the extensive cuts were a result of Amazon’s annual business review, which this year was “more difficult given the uncertain economy and which we have adopted quickly in recent years”.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Wednesday that Amazon has extended its planned job cuts.
Amazon is one of the tech companies that recently announced significant cuts. Salesforce, the giant enterprise software company, said Wednesday it planned to lay off 10 percent of its workforce, or about 8,000 workers, over concerns about the economy. Other companies, including Meta and Twitter, have had major layoffs in recent months.
