Your Voice Your Vote 2024

Live results
Updated: Nov. 8, 12:58 PM ET

National Election Results: presidential

republicans icon Projection: Trump is President-elect
226
301
226
301
Harris
69,132,722
270 to win
Trump
73,436,394
Expected vote reporting: 92%

Amazon layoffs will continue into next year, CEO says

The layoffs follow major job cuts at other big tech firms, like Meta.

November 17, 2022, 6:00 PM

Amazon's layoffs will continue into the new year, CEO Andy Jassy said in a new memo Thursday.

The announcement comes a day after the tech company began layoffs of workers on its devices team, which focuses on products like its voice-operated Alexa, according to a memo from Dave Limp, senior vice president of devices and services.

"This year's review is more difficult due to the fact that the economy remains in a challenging spot and we've hired rapidly the last several years," Jassy said Thursday.

Decisions on the latest Amazon role reductions will be shared in early 2023, Jassy said. It is not yet certain how many jobs will be impacted, though the reductions will impact Amazon's stores and People Experience and Technology Solutions organizations, he said.

The move adds the company to a list of major tech firms that have imposed job cuts in recent weeks, including Facebook-parent Meta and Twitter.

Limp's memo did not provide details on the scale of the layoffs, but the job losses arrive at a time when the company typically expands its workforce during the busy holiday season.

"We continue to face an unusual and uncertain macroeconomic environment," Limp's memo said. "After a deep set of reviews, we recently decided to consolidate some teams and programs."

"In cases where employees cannot find a new role within the company, we will support the transition with a package that includes a separation payment, transitional benefits and external job placement support," the memo added.

The layoffs follow major job cuts at other big tech firms, as industry titans retreat from record sales attained during the pandemic, when billions across the world were forced into isolation. Customers stuck at home came to rely on delivery services like e-commerce and virtual connections formed through social media and videoconferencing.

However, persistent recession fears, rising interest rates and a shift back toward a pre-pandemic lifestyle have crunched the tech sector.

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon.Com Inc., speaks during the Bloomberg Technology Summit in San Francisco, June 8, 2022.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Under new owner Elon Musk, Twitter laid off roughly half of its 7,500-person workforce, citing losses of about $4 million each day.

Days later, Meta announced that it would cut about 11,000 employees, which amounts to roughly 13% of its workforce. The company reported a second consecutive quarter of declining sales last month.

Lyft, Netflix, Coinbase, Salesforce, Microsoft and Snap are among a slew of other tech companies that have cut workers this year.

Amazon logo seen at the entrance to Amazon's Shannon Building in Dublin.
Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen more than 25% in 2022. Shares in Amazon are down 18% this year.

Third-quarter earnings released by Amazon last month fell short of analyst expectations for revenue, sending the stock down 13% in extended trading on the day of the announcement.

Related Topics