Amazon to lay off more than 18,000 employees, a bigger number than initially planned

Amazon said Wednesday that it will lay off more than 18,000 employees, a bigger number than the retail giant announced back in December when the New York Times reported the company was cutting 10,000 jobs. The news is a further indicator of the softening economic growth amid the slowdown in the tech sector.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the cuts earlier, but Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said an employee had leaked the plans, prompting him to make a public announcement. In a memo to employees which was published in a company blog post, Jassy said:

“We typically wait to communicate about these outcomes until we can speak with the people who are directly impacted. However, because one of our teammates leaked this information externally, we decided it was better to share this news earlier so you can hear the details directly from me.”

Amazon is the latest in a series of tech companies to announce layoffs amid recession threats and global slowdown. Yesterday, another tech giant Salesforce announced a plan to lay off 10 percent of its over 70,000 employees.

The announcement comes just about a month after Amazon became the first company ever to lose $1 trillion in market value. Amazon becomes the latest in a series of tech companies to announce layoffs in recent months.

Last year, Facebook’s Meta laid off over 11,000 employees after losing $700 billion of its value over a risky metaverse bet. Other companies including Microsoft and Twitter have reduced their headcount and slowed hiring as global economic growth weakens due to looming recession, inflation, higher interest rates, the energy crisis in Europe, and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The global economic downturn that started in the second quarter of 2022 is beginning to have a major impact on tech companies. As we reported last year, at least 140,000 tech workers have lost their jobs, according to Layoffs.FYI, a site that has been tracking all tech layoffs using data compiled from public reports.

Tech giants like Spotify, Google’s Alphabet, and Nvidia have all taken measures to rein in spending. Other companies like Coinbase, Shopify, Netflix, and Twilio have also announced layoffs.