Amazon to cut about 16,000 roles in latest round of layoffs

Amazon is making additional organisational changes that will result in job cuts affecting about 16,000 roles globally, the company announced on Wednesday.

The reductions were announced internally by Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, Beth Galetti, in a message shared with employees earlier in the day.

“I want to let you know that we’re making additional organizational changes across Amazon that will impact some of our teammates,” Galetti said.

Amazon had informed in October that the layoffs were part of an effort to “strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.”

Galetti said while many teams had completed restructuring efforts, other teams finalised the process only recently, leading to the latest round of cuts.

“The reductions we are making today will impact approximately 16,000 roles across Amazon,” she said.

Amazon said it would offer most US-based employees affected by the changes 90 days to look for new roles internally.

However, timelines will vary in other countries depending on local regulations.

Employees who are unable to secure another role, or choose not to seek one, will be offered severance pay, outplacement services and health insurance benefits, where applicable.

The company stressed that the latest cuts do not signal a regular cycle of mass layoffs.

“Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan,” Galetti said.

Amazon said it would continue hiring and investing in strategic areas critical to its long-term growth.

“We’re still in the early stages of building every one of our businesses and there’s significant opportunity ahead,” she said.