Amazon announced it would be laying off 10,000 employees starting this week, which account for approximately 1% of Amazon’s total workforce.
The layoffs, affecting employees in both corporate and technology-related roles, will mark the largest to date in the company’s history. The company’s corporate layoffs are estimated to reduce employees by 3% in that division.
Other divisions impacted include human resources, the “Echo” department, and those that work on “Alexa.”
Amazon is the latest in a string of tech companies to conduct large layoffs. Last week Twitter laid off about half of its staff, as Elon Musk let go over 3,000 employees, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Facebook’s Meta also announced they would cut about 13% of staff, an estimated 11,000 jobs, before the end of the year. Stripe was another to reduce its “headcount” of workers, all before the holiday season.
Amazon reported a 40% loss in revenue year-to-year. The company layoffs come in tandem with a hiring freeze announced on November 3rd.
The e-commerce behemoth has been investing in new initiatives for years, creating the Alexa device, Echo, Echo Dot, and more. Development of these devices will slow, as Amazon has seen a heavy drop in e-commerce sales.
This is a significant reversal of fortune after Amazon saw its revenue nearly triple during the COVID-19 pandemic and government-mandated lockdown.
“We’re facing an unusual macro-economic environment, and want to balance our hiring and investments with being thoughtful about this economy,” Amazon’s senior vice president, Beth Galetti, said.
Galetti reported that the hiring freeze would remain in place for the foreseeable future while Amazon cuts costs.
Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also warned on Twitter last month that “the probabilities in this economy tell you [to] batten down the hatches,” predicting an impending recession, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The company’s stock has since dipped below $1 trillion. Severance package details were not disclosed.
