Amazon will reportedly be laying off over 17,000 employees in its corporate workforce over the next few weeks, thousands more than the company initially planned.
The layoffs will reportedly be concentrated in its devices business, recruiting department and retail side, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Thousands of Amazon layoffs began last year and the rest will occur over the coming weeks.
Amazon planning to layoff over 17,000 workers, higher than originally planned.
“Some of the additional layoffs are from Amazon’s corporate ranks” per @WSJ and @Reuters https://t.co/qAGesbwYyP
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels_TV) January 5, 2023
The company said Nov. 16 that it planned to layoff corporate employees as a cost-controlling measure. Amazon was planning to cut about 10,000 employees, including in its retail and human resources divisions, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so. These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure; 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,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in an announcement addressing the layoffs.
Jassy’s announcement was made public after the WSJ report, the outlet said. Amazon typically informs employees before making layoffs public and impacted employees will receive communication starting Jan. 18, Jassy said in the announcement.
Amazon’s initial layoffs targeted unprofitable parts of the company such as retail and robotics, WSJ added. The firm announced a hiring freeze early November before it decided to layoff corporate employees. (RELATED: Big Tech Took A Market Beating In 2022)
Amazon had a surge in online shopping when customers were faced with Covid lockdowns and other pandemic-related restrictions. The company added hundreds of thousands of employees to keep pace with the explosion of demand as the company grew, the WSJ reported.
The company had over 1.5 million employees as of September, mostly in its warehouses. It’s unclear if any warehouse workers will be affected by the layoffs.
Amazon is one of many tech companies to fire employees during a difficult economic environment for the industry. The firm’s round of layoffs will be more than any other tech company in the past year, WSJ added.
Amazon directed the Daily Caller to Jassy’s statement in response to a request for comment.