Up to 18,000 Amazon workers in firing line as it chops cost

[Pete Ross Junior]

Up to 18,000 Amazon workers in firing line as it chops cost
The Register

Amazon is set to make around 18,000 job cuts, with tech teams among those bearing the brunt of the losses.

The move followed CRM giant Salesforce's decision to slash about 10 percent of its 73,000 workforce while taking a financial hit of $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion, announced yesterday.

The global online retailer and cloud company is set to slash around 5 percent of its workforce — largely in the areas of devices and books, technology services and stores — which is considerably higher than the 10,000 estimated in November.

In a blog published last night, CEO Andy Jassy, who founded AWS, said the pace of recent hiring combined with current economic uncertainty forced it to make the cuts.

"Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we're sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles. Several teams are impacted; however, the majority of role eliminations are in our Amazon Stores and People Experience and Technology organizations," he said.

He said the company was working to support those who will lose their jobs. Packages include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support.

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