Amazon confirmed a new, limited round of job cuts, mainly in its Stores unit, which runs the company’s main e-commerce website. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that fewer than 1,000 corporate employees were affected.
Amazon announced the cuts on Wednesday, October 7. They coincided with its two-day Prime Big Deal Days sale, which began Tuesday and ended Wednesday. A company spokesperson said Amazon had adjusted parts of its Stores business to better deliver on its priorities.
The latest layoffs follow a series of smaller reductions after a larger round of about 30,000 job cuts that began last year and continued through January. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that fewer than 1,000 white-collar employees were affected in the latest round. Business Insider had reported the cuts earlier.
Posts in internal Slack channels indicated that several Stores teams were involved, including customer service and services for selling partners. Employees in the United States, India and the United Kingdom were among those who received layoff notices.
Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos said in a Fox News interview aired Wednesday that earlier cuts had been necessary because the company hired too many people during the pandemic. He said people had stayed home and ordered goods, creating an exceptionally stressful period for the company, and that Amazon had substantially expanded its workforce.