Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy said in a note to employees Thursday that the company's job cuts will affect more than 18,000 jobs as part of the workforce cuts it previously disclosed.
He added that the layoffs, which Amazon will begin reporting on January 18, will greatly affect the company's e-commerce and human resources organizations. The cuts amount to 6% of Amazon's roughly 300,000 workforces. It marks a significant shift for the retailer, which in recent months has doubled its base pay cap to compete more aggressively for talent.
In the memo, Gacy said annual planning is "more difficult because of economic instability and because we've used up quickly over the past years."
The Seattle-based company began laying off employees in its hardware division in November, and a source told Reuters at the time that Amazon was targeting 10,000 jobs in its hardware division, as well as human resources and retail.
Amazon, which is the second largest private sector employer in the United States with more than 1.5 million people, is preparing for potential growth at a slower pace. It comes as high inflation forces businesses and consumers to cut spending, and additional job cuts at Amazon will raise the total number to outpace plans announced by other major companies recently. It also marks a significant shift for the retailer, which in recent months has doubled its base pay cap to compete more aggressively for talent.
Technology companies such as Meta Platforms and Microsoft Corp have cut thousands of jobs in anticipation of the recession.
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