Amazon to lay off 10,000 employees: Report
Retail giant Amazon is reportedly planning to lay off around 10,000 employees beginning as soon as this week, The New York Times reported Monday, per individuals familiar with the matter. The cuts would be the largest in the company's history.
The layoffs would reportedly focus on corporate employees in Amazon's devices organization, its retail division, and its human resources division, the Times writes. The total number of layoffs also "remains fluid and is likely to roll out team by team rather than all at once as each business finalizes plans," the Times summarizes, per one source.
Separately, the company has "already started laying off contractors working in recruiting, who in the past few weeks were told that their assignments were abruptly ending," added The Wall Street Journal.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The alleged layoffs arrive amid a broader reckoning moment for Big Tech, with companies like Facebook and Twitter having similarly slashed their payrolls in recent weeks. Per the Journal, Amazon's reductions are part of a larger cost-cutting review.
Though the retail giant thrived during the height of COVID-19, its "growth slowed to the lowest rate in two decades" earlier this year once "the bullwhip of the pandemic snapped." Should the total job cuts stay around 10,000, they'll amount to "roughly 3 percent of Amazon's corporate employees and less than 1 percent of its global workforce of more than 1.5 million, which is primarily composed of hourly workers," the Times writes.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 2, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - anti-fascism, early voter turnout, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Geoff Capes obituary: shot-putter who became the World’s Strongest Man
In the Spotlight The 'mighty figure' was a two-time Commonwealth Champion and world-record holder
By The Week UK Published
-
Israel attacks Iran: a 'limited' retaliation
Talking Point Iran's humiliated leaders must decide how to respond to Netanyahu's measured strike
By The Week UK Published
-
US economy still strong in final preelection report
Speed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strike
Speed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Ports reopen after dockworkers halt strike
Speed Read The 36 ports that closed this week, from Maine to Texas, will start reopening today
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Britain's new retail returns nightmare
In The Spotlight Gen Z influencers and a 'poopy diaper' have shown up fault-lines in the system
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Saks buys Neiman Marcus in $2.65B deal
Speed Read Following the merger of the two legacy retailers, the new entity will be called Saks Global
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Retail media is seeing a surge this year
The Explainer Amazon now makes more money from advertising than Coca-Cola's global revenue
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homes
Speed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'
Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published