More Than First Anticipated, Amazon Says It Will Shed Over 18,000 Jobs

Main Points

• One of the biggest employers in the United States, Amazon, is cutting back more than it had planned.
• The intentions were leaked, according to Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, who then went public with the news.
• Jassy penned in a memo, "Amazon has weathered uncertain and harsh economies in the past, and we will continue to do so.

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services. CNBC

More than the 18,000 positions the e-retailer initially announced it would be shedding last year, Amazon announced on Wednesday.

Amazon claimed that The Wall Street Journal's previous publication on the reduction prevented its intended announcement.

CEO Andy Jassy stated in a note to staff that the business posted on its blog, "We normally wait to share about these outcomes until we can speak with the folks who are directly impacted." However, we believed it was better to disclose this news sooner so you could hear the details straight from me because one of our teammates externally released this information.

In 2023, tech corporations are continuing where they left off in their preparations for a protracted economic crisis. Salesforce announced on Wednesday that it would lay off 10% of its workforce, affecting more than 7,000 workers. During the Covid epidemic, both Amazon and Salesforce acknowledged that they hired too quickly.

As more customers switched to online ordering, Amazon particularly recognized that it had increased the number of employees in its facilities too quickly. 1.4 million workers were employed by the corporation at the conclusion of the third quarter.

Jassy stated in November that Amazon would slash positions across the board, including those in its physical shops, devices, and books businesses. At the time, CNBC claimed that Amazon planned to let go of about 10,000 of its workers. The amount is higher right now.

Amazon has already survived unstable and challenging economies, and we will do the same going forward, Jassy stated. However, I'm also sure that we'll be creative, innovative, and resourceful in this period when we're not hiring widely and removing some roles. These changes will allow us to pursue our long-term prospects with a more robust cost structure.

Starting on January 18, Amazon aims to notify employees who will lose their positions, Jassy said, emphasizing that the shops and People, Experience, and Technology (PXT) units will see most of the job cutbacks.