Thousands to be laid off at Amazon starting this week, will hit the region hard

Nov 14, 2022, 9:28 AM | Updated: 12:25 pm

(Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Former MyNorthwest Content Editor

Amazon plans to lay off approximately 10,000 people starting as early as this week, according to a report in The New York Times and CNBC.

The dismissals would be the largest job cuts in the company’s history. It’s the latest tech company to lay off workers.

“This could end up having a disproportionate impact on the Seattle region,” Todd Bishop of GeekWire told KIRO Newsradio. “Amazon employs about 75,000 people here and many of them are corporate and technology workers.”

Tech layoffs aren’t ‘going to get better quickly,’ analysts say

Twitter, Meta, Lyft, Stripe, and Snap are just some of the tech companies announcing layoffs in recent months.

According to the Times report, the cuts would be the largest in the company’s history.

“Amazon is going to be leaving this decision to individual division leaders,” Bishop explained. “Right now it looks like the biggest impact will be on the devices division, retails operations, and human resources.”

A representative from Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. and its Twitter feed did not have any news of layoffs.

“In the grand scheme of things, 10,000 employees is not a large percentage of Amazon workers,” Bishop said. “But, in this region given the number of people who will get laid off, it’s a very big deal.”

The holiday shopping season is critical for Amazon. Usually, the company increases its workforce late in the year. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is known to be in cost-cutting mode.

Amazon reported 798,000 employees at the end of 2019 but had 1.6 million full and part-time employees as of Dec. 31 2021, a 102% increase.

CNBC reports, “The company had already announced plans to freeze hiring for corporate roles in its retail business, and in recent months, Amazon has shut down its telehealth service, discontinued a quirky, video-calling projector for kids, closed all but one of its U.S. call centers, axed its roving delivery robot, shuttered underperforming brick-and-mortar chains, and is closing, canceling or delaying some new warehouse locations.”

In Amazon’s report of third-quarter earnings announced at the end of September, the company had an increase in net sales.

Net sales increased 15% to $127.1 billion in the third quarter, compared with $110.8 billion in third quarter 2021. Excluding the $5.0 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 19% compared with third quarter 2021. North America segment sales increased 20% year-over-year to $78.8 billion. International segment sales decreased 5% year-over-year to $27.7 billion, but increased 12% excluding changes in foreign exchange rates. AWS segment sales increased 27% year-over-year to $20.5 billion, or increased 28% excluding changes in foreign exchange rates. Operating income decreased to $2.5 billion in the third quarter, compared with $4.9 billion in third quarter 2021. North America segment operating loss was $0.4 billion, compared with operating income of $0.9 billion in third quarter 2021.