Amazon has announced a new round of layoffs totaling 9,000 employees, to be implemented in the coming weeks. The confirmation came on Monday from Andy Jassy, the CEO of the e-commerce giant. This announcement adds to the previously disclosed reductions, which affected 18,000 workers between November last year and January this year.
Jassy spoke to staff in an internal message, stating that the company’s annual planning aims to be leaner while continuing to invest in long‑term customer experiences that should improve life for customers and strengthen Amazon as a whole. The plan reflects cautious expectations for the broader economy and a desire to prioritize core initiatives with lasting impact.
Economic uncertainty and the possibility of a recession have influenced Amazon to shift its strategic priorities. The result is a second wave of layoffs in just four months, with reductions scheduled to begin in the coming weeks and to run through mid to late April. Reuters and other outlets have reported similar patterns in the tech industry, as firms recalibrate spending and reallocate resources to essential areas.
The current cutbacks are expected to affect teams tied to advertising and human resources, areas that often endure the first rounds of cost reductions. Other segments such as cloud computing, e‑commerce infrastructure, and Twitch, the live streaming platform Amazon acquired in 2014, may also feel the impact as the company protects core operations and growth opportunities.
The wave of layoffs across the technology sector
Amazon is not alone in this round of job reductions. It follows Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, which announced a second wave of layoffs affecting thousands of employees. Meta had previously disclosed a plan to reduce about 21,000 roles in total, a milestone that mirrors the scale of Amazon’s projected reductions.
The broader technology industry has faced renewed economic pressure during the middle of the year, a period traditionally marked by steady growth for tech firms that benefited from easy access to capital over the past decade. In 2023, more than 1,051 tech companies laid off over 161,000 workers as part of a broader shift toward profitability and efficiency. By early 2024, the trend had continued, with roughly 503 companies globally reducing payrolls by nearly 140,000 workers in a short span of time.
The current developments at Amazon underscore a wider recalibration in the sector. While firms point to resilience in consumer demand and a continued push into cloud services, advertising platforms, and digital media, the immediate priority is maintaining balance between investment in strategic initiatives and the reality of tighter budgets. Observers note that the pace and scope of these layofs signal a shift from rapid growth to sustainable optimization, a move many executives describe as necessary to weather uncertain economic winds. Attribution: Market reporting on corporate layoff trends.