More jobs to go at Amazon with AWS, Advertising and Twitch positions among those affected

Amazon is to shed another 9,000 jobs, CEO Andy Jassy has told staff today.

The latest in the mass of layoffs in the tech industry affects staff working mainly in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Twitch, Advertising and the tech giant’s People, Experience and Technology Solutions.

Jassy’s internal memo to staff today informed them of the company’s intention “to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks” as Amazon concludes the second phase of its operating plan.

“This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term,” Jassy said.

“Significant amount of headcount”

Jassy highlighted that for “several years leading up to this one, most of our businesses added a significant amount of headcount” adding that this made sense at the time, but the uncertainty for the near future including the economic climate has meant Amazon choosing “to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount”.

“The overriding tenet of our annual planning this year was to be leaner while doing so in a way that enables us to still invest robustly in the key long-term customer experiences that we believe can meaningfully improve customers’ lives and Amazon as a whole,“ he insisted.

The news follows Meta’s announcement last week of the axing of another 10,000 jobs, while Amazon’s latest cuts are on the back of its announcement of the shedding of 18,000 positions at the start of the year.

Jassy said that there will still be “limited hiring” in some of Amazon’s businesses where the allocation of more resources has been prioritised.

He stated: “As our internal businesses evaluated what customers most care about, they made re-prioritization decisions that sometimes led to role reductions, sometimes led to moving people from one initiative to another, and sometimes led to new openings where we don’t have the right skills match from our existing team members.”

Not all decisions have been made on the exact roles impacted as part of the latest news, with Amazon expecting to finish this process by later next month, with individuals affected being told directly.

Jassy concluded that he remained “very optimistic” about the future, and Amazon’s opportunities in its larger businesses and AWS, alongside newer customer experiences in which the company is investing.