Amazon will cut more than 18,000 employees

Amazon will cut more than 18,000 employees instead of the previously announced 10,000, CEO Andy Jesse said in a publication posted on the company’s website.

Last November, it was reported that Amazon management plans to lay off 10,000 people. Jesse explained that the decision was made as part of planning for 2023 amid “uncertainty in the economy and the high volume of hiring over the past two years. However, he said, management had warned employees at the time that additional layoffs could not be ruled out.

As a result of the review, Amazon management made the “difficult decision to further eliminate” several positions. In total, Jesse said, more than 18,000 employees will be laid off, mostly from the sales and hiring departments.

Amazon’s workforce has nearly doubled in the past two years as demand for online services increased due to the new coronavirus pandemic. However, the company’s revenue growth has slowed as sanitation restrictions have been lifted. According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon employed a total of about 1.5 million people as of September 2022.