Amazon confirms ANOTHER 9,000 job cuts - adding to the 18,000 employees it said it would lay off in January as tech bloodbath continues
- Amazon plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks
- The job cuts mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company's history
Amazon plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday.
The job cuts would mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company's history, adding to the 18,000 employees the company said it would lay off in January.
Yet the company's workforce doubled over the pandemic, during a hiring surge across almost the entire tech sector.
In the memo, Mr Jassy said the second phase of the company's annual planning process - which determined what areas of the business to trim - would be completed this month.
He said Amazon will still hire in some strategic areas.
![Amazon plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/03/20/15/68904169-11881821-image-a-50_1679326686910.jpg)
Amazon plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday.
'Some may ask why we didn't announce these role reductions with the ones we announced a couple months ago,' Mr Jassy said.
'The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to share these decisions as we've made them so people had the information as soon as possible.'
'Given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount,' Mr Jassy said in a statement posted on the company's web site.
This time around, the job cuts will hit profitable areas for the company including its cloud computing unit AWS and its burgeoning advertising business.
Twitch, the gaming platform Amazon owns, will also see some layoffs as well as Amazon's PXT organizations, which handle human resources and other functions.
The prior layoffs had also hit PXT, the company's stores division, which encompasses its e-commerce business as well as company's brick-and-mortar stores such as Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go, and other departments such as the one that runs the virtual assistant Alexa.
Amazon has also been cutting back on other areas.
Earlier this month, the company said it would pause construction on on its headquarters building in northern Virginia, though the first phase of that project will open this June and welcome 8,000 employees.
Like other tech companies, including Facebook parent Meta and Google parent Alphabet, Amazon ramped up hiring during the pandemic to meet the demand from homebound Americans that were increasingly buying stuff online to keep themselves safe from the virus.
Its workforce - which encompasses warehouse workers as well as corporate roles - doubled to more than 1.6 million people in about two years.
But demand slowed as the worst of the pandemic eased and, in November, the New York Times first revealed its plans to cut 10,000 staff.
In January, Amazon finally confirmed that more than 18,000 employees would be losing their jobs.
Mr Jassy said the 'uncertain economy' was the main factor behind the decision and that the impacted employees will be told later that month.
The company then began pausing or cancelling its warehouse expansion plans last year to make sure it doesn't bleed unnecessary money.
As fears over a potential recession started growing, it also began making other trims in areas.
In the past few months, it has shut down a subsidiary that's been selling fabrics for nearly 30 years and shuttered its hybrid virtual, in-home care service Amazon Care among other cost-cutting moves.
Numerous tech giants, including Salesforce Inc and Alphabet, have slashed thousands of jobs in recent months after pandemic-led hiring sprees left them overstaffed.
'We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead.'
Microsoft executives previously announced in July that it was laying off less than 1% of its workforce and significantly slow hiring, as its revenue fell short of investor expectations.
The company recorded only $51.9 billion in revenue during the second quarter of the year, but was expected to rake in $52.4 billion.
It had previously recorded blockbuster growth during the COVID pandemic, when consumers and businesses turned to its products as they shifted to a work-from-home model.
Lyft
Ride-hailing firm Lyft said it would lay off 13% of its workforce, or about 683 employees, after it already cut 60 jobs earlier this year and froze hiring in September.
Lyft said in a regulatory filing it would likely incur $27 to $32 million in restructuring charges related to the layoffs.
'We are not immune to the realities of inflation and a slowing economy,' Lyft's founders wrote in the memo to staffers.
![Ride-hailing firm Lyft said it would lay off 13 percent of its workforce, or about 683 employees, after it already cut 60 jobs earlier this year](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/11/14/17/64378677-0-Ride_hailing_firm_Lyft_said_it_would_lay_off_13_percent_of_its_w-a-25_1668447099435.jpg)
Ride-hailing firm Lyft said it would lay off 13% of its workforce, or around 683 employees, after it already cut 60 jobs earlier this year
The company's share price has dropped 76% since the start of the year and currently stands at around $10, compared to nearly $45 in January.
Announcing the job cuts in a memo seen by the Wall Street Journal, Lyft founders John Zimmer and Logan Green told staff: 'There are several challenges playing out across the economy.
'We're facing a probable recession sometime in the next year and rideshare insurance costs are going up.
'We worked hard to bring down costs this summer: we slowed, then froze hiring; cut spending; and paused less-critical initiatives.
'Still, Lyft has to become leaner, which requires us to part with incredible team members.'
Lyft has around 4,000 employees, not including its drivers.
Spotify
The music streaming service said on January 22 it plans to cut 6% of its workforce, an estimated 588 employees from its 9,800 full time staff.
Spotify said it will incur about $38million in severance-related charges.
The company, whose CEO is Daniel Ek, said its chief content and advertising business officer Dawn Ostroff will also depart.
![Spotify said on January 22 it plans to cut 6% of its workforce, an estimated 588 employees](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/01/25/02/66868617-11426881-Spotify_is_laying_off_thousands_of_staff_as_the_tech_sector_cont-a-1_1674614767024.jpg)
Spotify said on January 22 it plans to cut 6% of its workforce, an estimated 588 employees
Apple
Though Apple has not yet announced any major layoffs, CEO Tim Cook told CBS Mornings that it is slowing some hiring as well.
'What we're doing as a consequence of being in this period, is we're being very deliberate in our hiring,' he said.
'That means we're continuing to hire, but not everywhere in the company are we hiring.'
At the same time, though, Cook said 'we don't believe you can save your way to prosperity'.
'We think you invest your way to it,' he said.
Most watched News videos
- Shocking moment cowardly driver leaves fiancee to die after car crash
- Ex-Gov Adviser: IT outage was a 'digital auto-immune disorder'
- Just Stop Oil warriors surround van detaining co-founder Roger Hallam
- Chris Packham calls long Just Stop Oil prison sentences 'bonkers'
- Shocking footage shows aftermath of carjacking that saw woman killed
- Shocking scenes in Leeds as 'explosion' sends people running
- Strictly's professional dancers display 'controversial behaviour'
- Moment police in Leeds forcefully take children out of the house
- Leeds riots: Heartbroken father sobs and begs for his children back
- Leeds: Moment rioting thugs throw fridge into fire and ignite bus
- Cyber security expert: Crowdstrike CEO 'downplayed' outage impact
- Shocking scenes in Leeds as gang of thugs overturns a police car