Omnichannel

Amazon expanding corporate layoffs from 10K to 18K

Photo by istock.com

January 5, 2023

The next massive layoff wave at Amazon will start Jan. 18 as the omnichannel retailer now plans to layoff 18,000 corporate staffers, primarily in the retail and human resources units.

The news comes two months after Amazon announced it was cutting 10,000 jobs starting in November, 2022 with cuts primarily in the retail, devices and HR units. The layoff figure was the biggest in the retailer's history at that point, according to a New York Times report.

The current layoff wave, revealed in an email to workers from CEO Andy Jassy, is an expansion of the November layoff strategy, according to a New York Times report. The layoff represents about 6% of the company's corporate staffing levels.

"These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure," Jassy wrote in the email, according to the news report. "However, I'm also optimistic that we'll be inventive, resourceful and scrappy in this time when we're not hiring expansively and eliminating some roles."