Image: © Sundry Photography/Stock.adobe.com
Chief executive Andy Jassy said Amazon needs to be ‘more streamlined in our costs and headcount’ during an uncertain economy.
Amazon is letting go of an additional 9,000 employees on top of the 18,000 it laid off in January.
CEO Andy Jassy told employees in a message today (20 March) that the job cuts over the next few weeks will affect roles in Amazon Web Services, People Experience and Technology, advertising and Twitch.
“This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term,” Jassy said.
The news comes after Amazon held the second phase of its operating plan last week where it was decided the company needs to be “more streamlined in our costs and headcount” in light of the “uncertain economy in which we reside”.
“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,” Jassy explained in the message.
“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.”
However, Amazon will continue hiring – in a limited capacity – in some of its strategic business areas where it has prioritised the allocation of more resources.
Jassy also explained why the latest Amazon job cuts were not announced as part of the earlier layoffs announced in January.
“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.”
Decisions on which roles are to be impacted will be made by mid to late April, after which impacted employees will be alerted directly or through representative bodies where applicable in Europe.
Support for those laid off will include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits and external job placement support.
“I remain very optimistic about the future and the myriad of opportunities we have, both in our largest businesses, Stores and AWS, and our newer customer experiences and businesses in which we’re investing,” Jassy added.
Amazon employed about 5,000 people in Ireland and more than 1.5m people globally before the January layoffs were announced. It is not clear yet how many Irish roles will be impacted.
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