Amazon to Cut 30,000 Jobs, Marking Largest Workforce Reduction Since 2022

Amazon adjusts workforce. The e-commerce giant will lay off up to 30,000 corporate workers starting Tuesday in an effort to cut costs and compensate for overhiring during the pandemic, according to Reuters news agency.

Although the figure represents just 1.55% of the giant’s global workforce, the total number of layoffs represents 10% of its global headcount. 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.

The cuts, which begin this week, could affect several areas, including human resources, operations, devices and Amazon Web Services. The information, which has not been confirmed by the company, was made public days before the release of the giant’s quarterly fiscal results.

Amazon seeks to cut costs and compensate for overcontracting during pandemic

According to sources consulted by Reuters, the company thus aims to reduce expenses, the overstaffing that was generated during the pandemic and what the giant’s CEO has described as “excessive bureaucracy”, in reference to too many middle management positions as managers.

This reduction, however, comes at a key moment for the e-commerce giant, on the eve of the Christmas season, Black Friday and the winter sales, three of the most consuming periods that occur within a few months of each other. Forecasts for the period are high, with Amazon planning to hire almost 250,000 people on a temporary basis to fill vacancies in warehouses, mainly.

Along with the cut in the number of workers, Amazon’s workforce underwent 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.