// Amazon boss Andy Jassy warned employees that more job cuts would be made in 2023 as leaders are looking at staffing levels
// Its stores and people, experience and technology divisiona will see “reductions” next year
Amazon.com warned there would be more job cuts next year as leaders across the business scrutinise their staffing levels.
The retailer, which yesterday scrapped a number of roles across its devices and books business, has also offered voluntary redundancy to employees in its people, experience and technology (PXT) division.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned that the job losses had not come to an end yet and would continue into the new year.
“Our annual planning process extends into the new year, which means there will be more role reductions as leaders continue to make adjustments,” he wrote in a letter to employees.
“Those decisions will be shared with impacted employees and organisations early in 2023.”
Jassy said it hadn’t decided how many other roles will be impacted but warned that its stores and PXT division would see “reductions”. Sources have said that up to 10,000 jobs could be cut.
Jassy said: “I’ve been in this role now for about a year and a half, and without a doubt, this is the most difficult decision we’ve made during that time (and, we’ve had to make some very tough calls over the past couple of years, particularly during the heart of the pandemic).
“It’s not lost on me or any of the leaders who make these decisions that these aren’t just roles we’re eliminating, but rather, people with emotions, ambitions, and responsibilities whose lives will be impacted.”
Amazon, which put a freeze on corporate recruitment earlier this month, has suffered a sales slowdown this year and warned last month that Christmas sales would be weaker.
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However, Jassy remains confident of the retail giant’s prospects.
“Amazon has weathered uncertainty and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so,” he said.
“We have big opportunities ahead, both in our more established businesses like Stores, Advertising, and AWS, but also in our newer initiatives that we’ve been working on for a number of years and have conviction in pursuing (e.g. Prime Video, Alexa, Kuiper, Zoox, and Healthcare).
“The key will be to do what Amazon does best – obsess over customers and invent relentlessly on their behalf – and if we do that, we should all be very optimistic about Amazon’s future. I know I am.”
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