Amazon has announced yet another round of layoffs after letting go of 18,000 workers in November. This time the e-commerce giant will lay off 9,000 employees.
CNBC reports that Amazon, one of the world’s largest e-commerce retailers, is preparing to lay off 9,000 more employees in the coming weeks. CEO Andy Jassy made the announcement in a memo to the staff on Monday. This round of layoffs comes on top of the layoff of more than 18,000 workers in November.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy (Isaac Brekken/AP)
Amazing is laying off employs to cut costs in the business. According to Jassy, the business made the decision considering the “uncertainty that exists in the near future” as well as the current economic climate. The second stage of the company’s annual budgeting process, known as “OP2” internally, has just been completed.
“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,” Jassy said in the memo.
The areas of Amazon’s business that are expected to be the most impacted are the company’s cloud computing, human resources, advertising, and Twitch livestreaming businesses. After going on a hiring binge during the coronavirus pandemic, the company is currently undergoing its largest round of layoffs ever. By the end of 2021, the company’s workforce had increased from 798,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019 to over 1.6 million.
Jassy, who succeeded Jeff Bezos as CEO of Amazon in July 2021, is also conducting a thorough analysis of the company’s expenses as it deals with the recession and sluggish growth in its core retail business. Amazon stopped hiring for its corporate workforce, shelved some test projects, and slowed the growth of its warehouses.
Jassy said that he is still optimistic about the firm’s “largest businesses,” which are its e-commerce business and Amazon Web Services. The company still plans to invest in new divisions this year despite its plans to operate more efficiently.
Following the news, Amazon’s stock fell more than two percent during Monday’s afternoon trading.
Read the full memo from Jassy at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan