Amazon cuts fewer than 1,000 jobs, mostly in its retail unit
Amazon confirmed Wednesday it cut a small number of jobs, mainly in its Stores unit, which runs its shopping website. Fewer than 1,000 office workers in the U.S., India and the U.K. were affected, a person familiar with the matter said. The cuts came during Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale.
Amazon has cut another round of office jobs. The company confirmed Wednesday that it eliminated "a small number" of roles, mostly in its Stores unit, which runs its main shopping website. Fewer than 1,000 workers were affected, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider and Reuters.
Workers learned by email that their roles were gone, according to messages in an internal Slack channel seen by Business Insider. That channel had nearly 37,000 members. It quickly filled with questions about severance and internal job openings.
The cuts hit several teams, including customer service, seller support and engineering in the retail business. Workers in the U.S., India and the U.K. were among those let go, The Economic Times reported, citing Reuters.
"We've adjusted parts of our Stores business because we believe this structure will better enable us to deliver on our priorities," an Amazon spokesperson said. The company said it is "committed to supporting affected employees."
The timing stood out. The layoffs came during Prime Big Deal Days, one of Amazon's biggest shopping events, which ran Tuesday and Wednesday.
This is not the first round. Amazon cut about 30,000 jobs in a round that began late last year and ran into January. Smaller cuts have followed since.
Founder Jeff Bezos explained the cuts in a Fox News interview aired Wednesday. He said Amazon overhired during the pandemic, when people stayed home and ordered more. "We really grew our head count," he said.
At the same time, Amazon is spending big on artificial intelligence. It plans a record $220 billion in spending on data centers, chips and other gear, Business Insider reported. It has also reached out to some former workers about jobs in its cloud and AI units.
Other tech giants are doing the same. Meta cut about 8,000 roles in May, and Microsoft cut more than 5,000 jobs in July and September, Business Insider reported.
Affected workers asked whether taking an outside offer during their 90-day notice period would cost them severance.
What we know: Amazon cut fewer than 1,000 jobs, mostly in retail.
What we don't: Whether more cuts are coming in other units or countries.
Where outlets agree Business Insider and Reuters both report Amazon cut fewer than 1,000 roles, mainly in its Stores business, in the U.S., India and the U.K.
Where they differ Amazon has not said whether more cuts are coming, and workers in internal channels were still asking whether all notices had gone out.