Amazon is laying people off
Amazon is laying off several hundred corporate employees in a rare shift of resources to other parts of its business, the Seattle Times reports. The layoffs will include people at its Seattle headquarters and across global operations, according to a Times’ source familiar with the cuts, and mainly include folks working in the consumer retail business.
The layoffs are relatively modest for a company that employs 467,000 worldwide, including 33,000 in Seattle, with plans to add another 50,000 at its new second headquarters, dubbed H2Q.
The company’s recent hiring sprees, however, put some units over budget, according to employees interviewed by the Times. “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,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to the Times. “For affected employees, we work to find roles in the areas where we are hiring.”
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment from Quartz.
The company has already notified some employees, according to the Times. The remaining affected employees will be notified in the next few weeks.