According to a report in the New York Times, Amazon plans to lay off about 10,000 employees in corporate and technology roles starting this week. Separately, the Wall Street Journal also cited a source as saying the company plans to lay off thousands of employees.
Amazon shares closed down nearly 2% on Monday.
The cuts will be the largest in the company’s history and will primarily affect Amazon’s device organization, retail division, and human resources, according to the report. The reported layoffs represent less than 1% of Amazon’s global workforce and 3% of its corporate employees.
The report follows headcount cuts at other tech firms. Meta announced last week that it had laid off more than 13% of its workforce, or more than 11,000 employees, and Twitter has laid off nearly half of its workforce in the days since Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the company.
Amazon reported 798,000 employees at the end of 2019 but had 1.6 million full- and part-time employees by December 31, 2021, a 102% increase. The New York Times said the number of total cuts “remains fluid” and could change.
An Amazon representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The holiday shopping season is critical for Amazon, and typically, one where the company has increased its headcount to meet demand. But Andy Jassy, who takes over as CEO in July 2021, is in cost-cutting mode to conserve cash as the company faces sluggish sales and a depressed global economy.
The company has already announced plans to freeze hiring for corporate roles in its retail business. In recent months, Amazon has shuttered its telehealth service, discontinued a quirky, video-calling projector for kids, shuttered all but one of its U.S. call centers, shut down its roving delivery robot, shuttered underperforming brick-and-mortar chains Done, and closing. , canceling or delaying some new warehouse locations.
Amazon reported disappointing third-quarter earnings in October that spooked investors and sent shares plunging more than 13%. It’s the first time since April 2020 that Amazon’s market cap has fallen below $1 trillion, and the report marks the second time this year that Amazon’s results have been enough to spark a double-digit percentage sell-off. The sell-off continued for days after the report and wiped out almost all stocks’ epidemic gains.
Amazon stock is down nearly 41% for the year, outpacing the 14% decline in the S&P 500, and on pace for its worst year since 2008.