‘Business is booming, and jobs are still being cut’: Ursula warns workers as Amazon’s record margin follows more layoffs

Amazon cut about 250 more jobs this week, then reported its highest operating margin ever. KIRO host Ursula Reutin said that’s the new reality for workers: A booming company no longer means a safe job.

Amazon cut jobs Wednesday in its devices and services division, Reuters reported. The cuts came weeks after the company rolled out new Kindle e-readers and tablets. Most of the affected workers were in software development. Earlier this month, Amazon cut about 1,000 jobs in its retail division.

On Thursday, the company reported third-quarter sales of $201.9 billion, up 12% from a year earlier. Operating income rose to $28.1 billion, and its 13.9% operating margin was Amazon’s highest ever. Amazon Web Services grew 39.3%, its fastest growth in nearly five years.

Microsoft is sending the same message. On “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Ursula noted that the company just reported more than $92 billion in quarterly revenue, and its Azure cloud business brought in more than $33 billion. Microsoft has also offered voluntary exits to tens of thousands of employees.

“Two of the biggest employers in our region are sending the same message this week: business is booming, and jobs are still being cut,” Ursula said.

Amazon’s cuts are a warning to keep learning

Ursula said workers need to rethink what job security means.

“If you are an employee, the old idea that a successful company means my job is safe, that doesn’t hold,” she said.

She urged workers to make sure their employer understands the value they bring, the problems they solve and the results they produce. Most of all, she said, workers need to learn the technology that’s changing their jobs.

“Learn AI, use it, figure it out,” Ursula said. “Because I think the worst thing that you can do is stand still.”

Gee: Tech is building the kitchens

KIRO host Gee Scott explained the AI boom with a restaurant comparison. AI companies are opening the restaurants, with the recipes and the customers. Microsoft is supplying the kitchens: the data centers and computing power those companies need.

“They’re supplying the infrastructure,” Gee said. “And as supplying, unfortunately, Ursula, to do this, they don’t need people.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said demand is still outpacing what the company can supply.

“Accelerating demand led to us adding 24 new data centers across five continents this quarter,” Nadella said.

Gee closed with a jab at Ursula over an ongoing debate between them.

“We keep doing this show together, and Microsoft and all them keep doing all these layoffs,” he said. “I’m curious what our conversation on college is going to be in a few years.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.