Amazon is preparing to let go another 9,000 workers over the next several weeks, in an effort to unwind the surge in hiring it underwent during the pandemic.
In a memo circulated to employees on Monday and seen by CNBC, CEO Andy Jassy said the latest round of layoffs will affect Amazon’s human resources, advertising, cloud computing, and Twitch livestream divisions. “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,” he wrote.
The latest round of cuts follow a previously announced series of layoffs that began in November, during which over 18,000 staff across the company’s retail, recruiting, devises and human resources businesses were let go. Jassy explained that the mass layoffs are part of Amazon’s roadmap towards reducing costs and backtracking on the extensive hiring spree the e-retailer underwent during the Covid-19 pandemic. The move comes in response to growing economic uncertainty resulting in a slowdown of its core retail business.
“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,” Jassy added.
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