Layoffs in the tech industry continue to mount as Amazon announced in a memo to staff on Monday it will trim 9,000 positions in the coming months. The decision comes amid the company’s plans to streamline costs and become leaner.
Layoffs Will Primarily Affect AWS, Twitch, Advertising, and PXT, Amazon CEO Says
Amazon will cut an additional 9,000 job positions in the coming weeks, the company’s CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to employees on Monday. The move represents an extension of the layoff round that affected over 18,000 employees in November and January. According to the memo, the new job reductions will mainly affect the company’s cloud computing, human resources, advertising, and Twitch live-streaming businesses.
“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.”
– Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in the memo.
Jassy said Amazon didn’t announce the new layoffs together with the ones revealed in January because not all of the company’s teams were done evaluating things like costs and customer expectations. Instead of rushing “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,” Jassy said, adding that affected units have not yet made final decisions on which exact roles will be impacted.
More Than 100K Tech Employees Laid Off in 2023
Amazon’s decision comes as part of the tech and e-commerce giant’s efforts to streamline costs, citing economic challenges and the looming uncertainty. According to the memo, one of the primary objectives of Amazon’s annual budgeting plan is to become a leaner company to allow it to continue investing in long-term opportunities.
The decision marks the latest layoff round in the tech sector, trimming over a hundred thousand positions in 2023. Earlier this month, Facebook owner Meta Platforms said it would lay off thousands of employees as it looks to restore profitability. The company cut around 11,000 positions, or 13% of its workforce, in 2022 to slash costs amid recession risks.
A recent report by executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that tech companies accounted for 28% of all layoffs in February, trimming 21,387 jobs. Shares of Amazon fell 1.5% at the market open on Monday.
This article originally appeared on The Tokenist
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