Amazon will begin reporting the thousands of layoffs announced earlier this month, with the disclosures expected this Wednesday. The cuts will primarily affect employees and human resources across the company’s retail operations.
The plan calls for more than 18,000 positions to be eliminated, adding to the nearly 10,000 previously announced last November. The layoffs span several business lines, including appliances, books, and other retail segments.
Together, the total layoff count represents around 6% of Amazon’s roughly 300,000 corporate staff, a group concentrated mainly in office roles. The company’s broader workforce exceeds 1.5 million when hourly workers, temporary staff, and delivery personnel are included.
Amazon is widely regarded as the second-largest private employer in the United States, trailing only Walmart in that regard.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy confirmed the layoffs on January 4 after the plan details were leaked to media outlets.
In a message to staff, Jassy acknowledged the difficulty of the decision and stressed that the company does not take these moves lightly, promising severance packages and other support for those affected.
Senior executives noted that affected individuals, and in some cases unions, would begin receiving notices starting January 18, though specifics about how the layoffs will be distributed across different countries were not provided. This highlights Amazon’s broad geographic footprint and its global workforce.
As a rationale for recalibrating the workforce, Amazon cited macroeconomic uncertainty and the range of contractual commitments it has entered into in recent years.
During the pandemic, the company expanded its workforce significantly, driven by the surge in e-commerce and the broader technology sector.
In fiscal 2020, Amazon reported a net profit surpassing $21 billion on revenues exceeding $33 billion, a record that was challenged in 2021 as earnings grew again, though not at the same pace as the prior year.
Forecasts for full-year 2022 remained uncertain as of late September, with a reported loss around $3 billion, influenced in part by declines in Rivian Automotive, in which Amazon holds a substantial stake. Revenue, however, continued to expand on multiple fronts.
The layoffs at Amazon reflect a wider pattern within the technology industry, which has shifted from rapid expansion to more cautious staffing levels after several years of strong growth.
Other major tech players, including Twitter, Meta, and Salesforce, have also announced significant reductions, contributing to a broader job-cut trend. Estimates for 2022 suggest the tech sector shed well over 150,000 positions, according to Layoffs.fyi, which aggregates company-reported figures and press releases for context.