In a wave of recent layoffs from Paramount Skydance, UPS and Target, Amazon adds its name to the list.
In a letter to employees signed by Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, it states the tech giant is targeting “an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles.”
Most employees will be offered 90 days to explore new opportunities within the company. Others who don’t remain with Amazon will be offered severance pay and other transition benefits, the memo said.
Amazon currently employs approximately 1.55 million people worldwide. The 14,000 estimated reductions account for 4% of the company’s corporate workforce of 350,000 personnel.
On Oct. 27, CNBC and Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported that Amazon would be cutting up to 30,000 corporate jobs.
The company will release its quarterly financial results in the evening after the stock market closes on Thursday, Oct. 30. Here’s what Floridians need to know.
Why is Amazon laying off employees?
The memo states that the cuts are “further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources.”
“We’re convinced 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,” Galetti wrote.
Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, previously stated in June that the company would reduce its workforce as it seeks to increase its use of AI to perform tasks typically handled by humans. The reductions are impacting the company’s logistics and payments, as well as its video games and cloud-computing teams.
“As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” a June 17 memo signed by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said.
How many Floridians will be impacted by Amazon layoffs?
It’s unknown how many Floridians will be targeted in this layoff. According to recent reports from the South Florida Business Journal, the company has over 55,000 full-time and part-time employees across Florida.
They reported that Amazon’s Florida investments include:
How to listen to the Amazon earnings call today
Amazon will report earnings after the stock market closes on Thursday, Oct. 30.
According to USA TODAY, the company’s third-quarter financial report will be posted on its Investor Relations website. Investors can also access the conference call on the website, which is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. ET.
The call will also address investor concerns about Amazon Web Services (AWS) following a widespread outage on Oct. 20, which lasted several hours and impacted web services of high-profile clients like Snapchat and Ring.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Amazon layoffs hit thousands of employees. Is Florida affected?
Reporting by Samantha Neely and Melina Khan, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
