Amazon set to cut 14,000 jobs from corporate workforce
Amazon has announced that it will cut an estimated 14,000 jobs from its corporate workforce as it focuses on “reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources,” according to the company.
Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon, announced the organizational changes on Tuesday, saying that those affected would be informed later in the day.
“Last year, [Amazon CEO Andy Jassy] posted a note about strengthening our culture and teams -- explaining how we want to operate like the world’s largest startup, the importance of having the right structure to drive that level of speed and ownership, and the need to be set up to invent, collaborate, be connected, and deliver the absolute best for customers,” Galetti said in the announcement on Tuesday.
“The reductions we’re sharing today are a continuation of this work to get even stronger by further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs,” Galetti continued.
Galetti said that the people affected in the reduction of the estimated 14,000 roles -- about 4% of their workforce of an estimated 350,000 people -- would be supported in the coming weeks and months.
“We’re working hard to support everyone whose role is impacted, including offering most employees 90 days to look for a new role internally (the timing will vary some based on local laws), and our recruiting teams will prioritize internal candidates to help as many people as possible find new roles within Amazon,” Galetti said.
“For our teammates who are unable to find a new role at Amazon or who choose not to look for one, we’ll offer them transition support including severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits, and more,” Galetti continued.
Amazon said that they would continue hiring in “key strategic areas while also finding additional places we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realize efficiency gains.”
“What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly,” said Galetti. “We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.”
“I don’t know of any other company with the breadth of Amazon, the number of exciting bold bets we’re making, and all the ways we can make customers lives better and easier around the world,” Galetti continued.
