Seattle — Amazon has eliminated fewer than 1,000 white-collar jobs, primarily within its Stores division, as the company continues to reorganize its workforce and adjust to changing business priorities.
The latest reductions came as Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days promotion was underway. The shopping event began Tuesday and continues through Wednesday, offering discounts across a broad range of products.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that fewer than 1,000 white-collar employees were affected. Workers in the United States, India and the United Kingdom were among those whose positions were eliminated.
Amazon said the job cuts were part of changes to its Stores organization, which oversees the company’s main e-commerce business.
The restructuring follows a substantially larger workforce reduction involving approximately 30,000 positions. That round of cuts began last year and continued through January.
Employees affected by the latest reductions discussed the changes in internal Slack channels. Their conversations indicated that several areas within the Stores organization were impacted, including customer service and selling partner services, along with potentially other teams.
Amazon said the restructuring is intended to establish an organization better aligned with the company’s current priorities.
The latest layoffs underscore Amazon’s continued efforts to adjust its workforce following the exceptional hiring surge during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company expanded rapidly during that period as consumers increasingly relied on online shopping while staying home.
Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos discussed the earlier workforce reductions during a Fox News interview that aired Wednesday. He said the company had hired heavily during the pandemic because demand had been unusually high as people remained at home and ordered goods.
The new cuts show that Amazon is continuing to reshape its operations even as it holds major shopping events and invests across its broader business.
Workforce reductions at large technology and retail companies remain closely monitored by investors because they can lower costs while also signaling shifts in corporate priorities.
For Amazon, the restructuring reflects the challenge of managing its vast retail operation while continuing to invest in technology, logistics and other parts of the business.
The reduction in Stores staffing marks another stage in Amazon’s broader effort to realign its workforce after the extraordinary expansion that took place during the pandemic.
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