Amazon eyes to layoff 9,000 employees

WASHINGTON: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on Monday that he was cutting 9,000 more jobs from the online retail giant's workforce, following the 18,000 that were axed in January.

"Given the uncertain economy... and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount," Jassy said in a memo to staff.

The layoffs account for a smaller percentage of Amazon's total workforce, which ran up to 1.5 million people in December 2022, than the cuts seen at some other tech giants.

Meta has laid off nearly 25% of its estimated workforce in just a few months in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called the company's "year of efficiency" as the US tech sector continues to downsize.

Amazon's Jassy told his workers that the extra layoffs were necessary after more feedback came from departments as the company seeks a way to downsize after years of sustained hiring.

This was largely caused by the coronavirus pandemic when users in Amazon's major markets turned to the internet for shopping and entertainment, in a massive boost to the Seattle-based company.

"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," Jassy said.

The cuts would mainly impact Amazon's cloud computing, human resources, advertising and Twitch videogame streaming businesses, Jassy told staff.

The layoffs are part of the giant's cost-cutting campaign that also saw a pause in its plans to open a new company headquarters in the Washington DC area, though the company said this was only a temporary measure.