Amazon Will Lay Off Tens of Thousands of Workers

According to a source with knowledge of the matter, Amazon.com Inc. will begin laying off about 10,000 corporate and technical employees this week. This would be the largest decrease in the company's history.

The cuts, which were initially reported by the New York Times, would affect around 3 percent of Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZNcorp) staff. As Amazon firms evaluate their aims, the precise number may alter, a source told Reuters.

According to the source, the online retailer intends to eliminate positions in its devices division, which manufactures voice-controlled "Alexa" devices and home-security cameras, as well as in its human resources and retail divisions. Uncertainty persisted as to when Amazon will notify its staff.

The drop was attributed to the unpredictable macroeconomic environment in which Amazon and other businesses operate.

The discovery follows a wave of layoffs in the IT industry, which fears a recession after years of rapid expansion. In an effort to reduce expenses, Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), announced last week that it would eliminate nearly 11,000 positions, or 13% of its staff.

Amazon, headquartered in Seattle, forecasts a slowdown in Christmas sales growth.

Last month, on a conference call with reporters, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky reported that the company observed evidence of tighter household budgets for shopping and continued to struggle with high inflation and energy prices.

Since then, it has announced that it will freeze corporate hiring growth for several months.

The Wall Street Journal claimed last week that Amazon's gadgets segment has lost more than $5 billion annually in recent years. According to the article, the company has contemplated whether to focus on new features for Alexa given that some consumers use the voice assistant for a limited number of tasks.

Including warehouse and transportation employment, which increased Amazon's headcount to over 1.5 million on September 30, the projected layoffs represented less than one percent of the retailer's workforce.

This year, Amazon's stock has lost more than 40 percent of its value. Monday afternoon, the price dropped 1.1% to $99.67.