On April 26th, Amazon announced that it would begin layoffs in its cloud computing and human resources (HR) departments, adding to the 9,000 job cuts announced last month. CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Adam Selipsky, and HR head Beth Galetti announced the layoffs in an email to employees, calling it “a tough day for our entire organization.”
The layoffs in the AWS and HR departments are taking place in the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica, and affected employees are being notified individually. While Selipsky did not disclose the exact scale of the layoffs, he explained that the need to focus resources on top priorities was the reason behind the move. He also mentioned that other countries or regions outside the mentioned areas would receive sequentially announced layoffs.
According to CNBC, Amazon has been aggressively cutting costs due to concerns about a US economic recession and a slowdown in growth in its core retail business. This latest round of layoffs marks the largest in Amazon’s 29-year history. The company has halted warehouse expansion and hiring and has been making significant cuts across various departments.
The advertising and AWS departments are among the company’s most profitable businesses, with AWS being the world’s largest cloud computing service. Despite this, the layoffs in these departments show that even profitable parts of the company are not immune to cost-cutting measures.
Amazon’s revenue increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as companies, government agencies, and schools accelerated their transition to the cloud. However, concerns about a US economic recession and a slowdown in growth in its core retail business led Amazon to focus on its top priorities, resulting in layoffs in its most profitable businesses.
With Amazon’s latest round of layoffs, the company is undergoing one of the largest layoffs in its history, having already cut 18,000 jobs since November last year. While these are challenging times for the tech giant, Amazon remains committed to its mission of serving its customers and providing them with the best possible experience.
