Amazon Plans 9K New Job Cuts

Amazon is set to lay off 9,000 employees, the latest in an on-going series of job cuts.

The layoffs will primarily effect the company’s cloud computing, Twitch live-stream, and advertising departments, CEO Andy Jassy said in a message to employees Monday (March 20).

The cuts come on top of the 18,000 positions Amazon eliminated in January.

“For several years leading up to this one, most of our businesses added a significant amount of headcount,” Jassy’s message reads.

“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.”

Amazon announced in November it would cut 9,000 jobs, but later upped that number to 18,000. In his message, Jassy acknowledged that people may ask why the company didn’t announce this new round at the same time.

“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 CEO wrote.

As PYMNTS wrote in February, recent comments from Jassy suggest he is looking for ways to find new efficiencies for the company.

“I think probably the number one priority that I spend time with the team on is reducing our cost to serve customers in our operations network,” he told investors during an earnings call.

These layoffs mark the second time in a week that a Big Tech company has expanded on a previously announced round of job cuts.

Meta said last week it would lay off another 10,000 workers after slashing 11,000 jobs in November. That reduction — 13% of the company’s workforce — marked the first wide-ranging layoffs in the social media giant’s history.

In addition to the layoffs, Meta will also freeze hiring for another 5,000 roles that had been open, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on the company’s website.

One tech giant not cutting jobs is Apple, though that company too is scaling back. As noted here last week, the iPhone maker is reportedly holding off on bonuses for some employees, placing limits on hiring and reducing travel.