New York CNN —
Amazon plans to lay off more than 18,000 employees as the global economic outlook continues to deteriorate.
Multiple teams will be affected, including HR and Amazon Stores, according to a memo from CEO Andy Jassy shared with employees.
“Long-term companies go through different phases. They’re not in heavy-people expansion mode every year,” he said.
Jassy had said in November that the job cuts at the e-commerce giant would last until early 2023. Several outlets reported in the fall that Amazon planned to cut around 10,000 employees.
Amazon and other tech companies have increased hiring significantly in recent years as the pandemic shifted consumer habits toward e-commerce.
Now many of these seemingly untouchable tech companies are experiencing whiplash, laying off thousands of workers, as people return to pre-pandemic habits and macroeconomic conditions worsen.
Jassy said in his memo that Amazon executives recently met to decide how to downsize the company and prioritize “what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses.”
“This year’s review was more difficult given the uncertain economic climate and the fact that we have rapidly hired new staff over the last few years,” he added.
The layoffs will help Amazon pursue long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure, Jassy said. But he called the cuts a “difficult decision,” noting that he “deeply recognizes that this role elimination is difficult for people, and we don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they impact the lives of the people.” could affect those affected. ”
The company will start notifying affected employees from January 18, he added.
Amazon’s business initially boomed during the pandemic as consumers relied on online shopping for almost everything.
This year, however, the company is facing a shift back to in-person shopping, as well as rising inflation that has severely reduced consumer demand.
In October, Amazon disappointed Wall Street with a holiday forecast that fell woefully short of analysts’ expectations. The company’s stock fell about 50% over the past year.
Like Jassy, a number of other tech founders and CEOs have since admitted they couldn’t accurately gauge pandemic demand.
Facebook parent Meta recently announced 11,000 job cuts, the largest in the company’s history. Twitter also announced sweeping job cuts after Elon Musk bought the company for $44 billion.
Salesforce said this week it would cut 10% of its workforce.