Amazon to cut more than 18,000 jobs now, increases layoffs to 6% of workforce; these units to be hit

Amazon.com Inc’s layoffs will now increase to more than 18,000 roles as part of a workforce reduction it previously disclosed, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in a public staff note on Wednesday. The layoff decisions, which Amazon will communicate starting Jan. 18, will largely impact the company’s e-commerce and human-resources organizations, he said.

The cuts amount to 6% of Amazon’s roughly 300,000-person corporate workforce and represent a swift turn for a retailer that recently doubled its base pay ceiling to compete more aggressively for talent. Amazon has more than 1.5 million workers including warehouse staff, making it America’s second-largest private employer after Walmart Inc. Its stock rose 2% in after-hours trade. Jassy said in the note that annual planning “has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years.”