Amazon Layoffs
Online retailer Amazon.com is laying off “low hundreds” of employees, mostly at the Seattle headquarters. The terminations are primarily positions related to the established parts of the company, mainly the consumer retail business (the part that sells books, among other things). The company plans to hire new employees in growing areas, including their digital assistant Alexa, their digital entertainment division, and their Amazon Web Services technology segment. A spokesperson said, “As part of our annual planning process, we are making head count adjustments across the company – small reductions in a couple of places and aggressive hiring in many others. For affected employees, we work to find roles in the areas where we are hiring.” Amazon instituted a hiring freeze in late 2017, following many years of rapid expansion.
