- Title: File: Amazon CEO says job cuts to exceed 18,000 roles
- Date: 5th January 2023
- Summary: LAUWIN-PLANQUE, FRANCE (FILE - MARCH 19, 2020) (REUTERS) TOWER ENTRANCE TO AMAZON WAREHOUSE BRETIGNY-SUR-ORGE, FRANCE (FILE - OCTOBER 22, 2019) (REUTERS) AMAZON LOGO AMAZON WAREHOUSE
- Embargoed: 19th January 2023 08:17
- Keywords: Amazon Andy Jassy Workforce reduction layoffs
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Various
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001052205012023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Amazon.com Inc's AMZN.O layoffs will now increase to more than 18,000 roles as part of a workforce reduction it previously disclosed, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in a public staff note on Wednesday (January 4).
The layoff decisions, which Amazon will communicate starting Jan. 18, will largely impact the company's e-commerce and human-resources organizations, he said.
The cuts amount to 6% of Amazon's roughly 300,000-person corporate workforce and represent a swift turn for a retailer that recently doubled its base pay ceiling to compete more aggressively for talent.
Amazon has more than 1.5 million workers including warehouse staff, making it America's second-largest private employer after Walmart Inc WMT.N.
Its stock rose 2% in after-hours trade.
Jassy said in the note that annual planning "has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we've hired rapidly over the last several years."
Amazon has braced for likely slower growth as soaring inflation encouraged businesses and consumers to cut back spending and its share price has halved in the past year.
The company began letting staff go in November from its devices division, with a source telling Reuters at the time it was targeting around 10,000 cuts.
The tech industry shed more than 150,000 workers in 2022, according to tracking site Layoffs.fyi, a number that's continuing to grow. Salesforce Inc CRM.N said Wednesday it planned to eliminate about 10% of staff, which numbered nearly 8,000 as of Oct. 31.
The reversal of Amazon's fortunes has been stark. It changed from a business deemed essential during the pandemic for delivering goods to locked-down homes, to a company that overbuilt for demand. Its layoffs now surpass the 11,000 cuts announced last year by Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc META.O.
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