Photo credit: David Becker/AFP / Getty Images
Amazon is set to lay off 9,000 workers worldwide. This announcement comes two months after the multinational technology company said it would cut 18,000 jobs in January.
By David Monaghan, Deputy Editor, Business & Finance.
Amazon is to lay off 9,000 workers worldwide, according to the company’s CEO, Andy Jassy, in a company memo published yesterday.
In it, Jassy wrote: “As we’ve just concluded the second phase of our operating plan this past week, I’m writing to share that we intend to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks.”
According to Jassy, these lay-offs will occur mostly in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch. “This was a difficult decision,” he wrote, “but one that we think is best for the company long term.”
Noting an increase in employee count over the last number of years, Jassy discussed how “given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount.”
On why these roles were not included in Amazon’s announcement in January that 18,000 roles worldwide would be cut, Jassy wrote: “not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall.”
The CEO added that the company has not finalised precisely which roles will be cut.
“Once those decisions have been made (our goal is to have this complete by mid to late April), we will communicate with the impacted employees (or where applicable in Europe, with employee representative bodies),” wrote Jassy.
It is uncertain how this will impact Amazon’s workforce in Ireland.
This is one of many such announcements made by multinational tech firms in recent months.
Last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced 10,000 job cuts across the company’s global operations. In February 2023, Google announced it will cut 240 jobs from its Irish workforce, citing a “volatile economic environment.”
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it would cut a further 60 jobs from its Irish workforce.
Read more:
Dublin’s tech contraction: What happened?
Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announces 10,000 job cuts globally
Irish identity verification solution, ID-Pal, expands into the United States
Silicon Valley start-up Bear Robotics announces plans for European Hub in Dublin