Amazon is cutting 9,000 jobs over the next few weeks in its second round of layoffs over the past three months.
In a note to employees posted to the company’s blog, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the cuts will mostly affect AWS, PXT (People Experience and Technology), Advertising, and Twitch.
“This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term,” Jassy wrote.
Amazon in January announced a 18,000-person layoff, the largest in the Seattle company’s history. These additional 9,000 layoffs bring the total to 27,000 job cuts, about 8% of Amazon’s corporate workforce, which previously numbered around 350,000 people.
The latest cuts will be complete by the end of April.
“For several years leading up to this one, most of our businesses added a significant amount of headcount,” Jassy wrote. “This made sense given what was happening in our businesses and the economy as a whole. However, given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount.”
Tech companies continue to trim headcount amid the larger industry downturn, following a period of pandemic-driven growth. Meta said last week it was cutting another 10,000 employees, which came four months after Meta cut 13% of its workforce, or more than 11,000 people.
So far this year more than 500 tech companies have laid off nearly 140,000 workers. Seattle-area companies including Leafly, Zulily, and Neoleukin Therapeutics have announced layoffs this month.
At least 2,300 Amazon employees in the Seattle region lost their jobs as part of the company’s layoffs announced in January.
Microsoft said in January it was cutting 10,000 jobs globally; more than 2,000 people were affected in the Seattle area, where the tech giant is based.
Jassy said Amazon will continue to do “limited hiring” in strategic areas.
He said the company did not announce the latest cuts as part of the January layoffs because “not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to share these decisions as we’ve made them so people had the information as soon as possible.”
Amazon last month told corporate and tech employees that it is requiring workers to be in the office at least three days a week. The announcement caused backlash among some employees.
The company’s overall base of 1.5 million employees includes warehouse workers, who aren’t part of the cuts.
The company has trimmed back and eliminated several products, services, and entire businesses over the past year to help trim expenses, including its Scout neighborhood delivery robots, its Amazon Care primary healthcare business, bricks-and-mortar Amazon bookstores, and others.
Amazon this month announced the closure of eight Amazon Go convenience stores. It is also pausing construction on its HQ2 project in the Washington, D.C., area.
Read the full memo below.
As we’ve just concluded the second phase of our operating plan (“OP2”) this past week, I’m writing to share that we intend to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks—mostly in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch. This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term.
Let me share some additional context.
As part of our annual planning process, leaders across the company work with their teams to decide what investments they want to make for the future, prioritizing what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses. For several years leading up to this one, most of our businesses added a significant amount of headcount. This made sense given what was happening in our businesses and the economy as a whole. However, given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount. The overriding tenet of our annual planning this year was to be leaner while doing so in a way that enables us to still invest robustly in the key long-term customer experiences that we believe can meaningfully improve customers’ lives and Amazon as a whole.
As our internal businesses evaluated what customers most care about, they made re-prioritization decisions that sometimes led to role reductions, sometimes led to moving people from one initiative to another, and sometimes led to new openings where we don’t have the right skills match from our existing team members. This initially led us to eliminate 18,000 positions (which we shared in January); and, as we completed the second phase of our planning this month, it led us to these additional 9,000 role reductions (though you will see limited hiring in some of our businesses in strategic areas where we’ve prioritized allocating more resources).
Some may ask why we didn’t announce these role reductions with the ones we announced a couple months ago. The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to share these decisions as we’ve made them so people had the information as soon as possible. The same is true for this note as the impacted teams are not yet finished making final decisions on precisely which roles will be impacted. Once those decisions have been made (our goal is to have this complete by mid to late April), we will communicate with the impacted employees (or where applicable in Europe, with employee representative bodies). We will, of course, support those we have to let go, and will provide packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support.
If I go back to our tenet—being leaner while doing so in a way that enables us to still invest robustly in the key long-term customer experiences that we believe can meaningfully improve customers’ lives and Amazon as a whole—I believe the result of this year’s planning cycle is a plan that accomplishes this objective. I remain very optimistic about the future and the myriad of opportunities we have, both in our largest businesses, Stores and AWS, and our newer customer experiences and businesses in which we’re investing.
To those ultimately impacted by these reductions, I want to thank you for the work you have done on behalf of customers and the company. It’s never easy to say goodbye to our teammates, and you will be missed. To those who will continue with us, I look forward to partnering with you as we make life easier for customers every day and relentlessly inventing to do so.
Andy
