Amazon Unveils Second Workforce Restructuring, Cuts 16,000 Jobs to Hit 30,000 Total

Amazon cuts staff. The e-commerce giant laid off 16,000 employees on Tuesday, bringing its global workforce to a total of 30,000. This decision is made in order to cut costs and compensate for outsourcing during the pandemic.

The layoffs would affect workers in Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video and human resources. As a whole, the company has about 1.5 million employees worldwide. Company sources have told El País that no layoffs are planned for Spain in this new process.

The adjustment carried out by Amazon in October, however, affected about 921 employees in Spain, of the nearly 28,000 members of its workforce in the country, which are divided between the corporate areas of the company in Madrid and Barcelona. In the ERE, a severance payment of 38 days’ salary per year worked was agreed for the affected employees.

Amazon already carried out its largest workforce readjustment to date in 2022, when it eliminated around 27,000 jobs

Beth Galetti, Amazon’s vice president of people experience and technology, said, “We have been working to strengthen our organization by reducing hierarchical levels, increasing accountability and eliminating bureaucracy. While many teams completed their organizational changes in October, others did not complete that work until now.“

Although the figure represents just 1.55% of the giant’s global headcount in terms of office staff, the total layoffs represent 10%. This is the largest headcount adjustment since the end of 2022, when it eliminated around 27,000 jobs. In recent years, the company has reduced headcount in several divisions.

Along with the cut in the number of workers, Amazon’s workforce experienced another of its biggest changes at the beginning of the year, when the technology giant decreed the end of teleworking and the obligation to return to the office five days a week.