Amazon cuts fewer than 1,000 jobs across retail operations in India, US and UK

Amazon’s latest job cuts have hit its retail operations in several countries, with fewer than 1,000 positions eliminated in the new round, according to the company.

The latest cuts have affected the company’s Stores business, which oversees its e-commerce website, in markets including India, the US and the UK, Reuters and Business Insider reported. Amazon did not disclose how many employees were affected in each country.

Amazon cuts jobs across retail operations

"We've adjusted parts of our Stores business because we believe this structure will better enable us to deliver on our priorities," an Amazon spokesperson told Reuters.

The job cuts were announced as Amazon entered its major sales period across key markets. In India, the Great Indian Festival began on October 8. The company’s Prime Big Deal Days sale began globally on October 6.

Also Read: Amazon cuts 16,000 jobs, to focus on generative AI

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos linked the continuing layoffs to the company’s hiring during the pandemic, when a sharp rise in online shopping led to a major expansion of its workforce.

"People were staying home, and they were ordering, and it was an incredible, stressful period for us, by the way,” he said in a Fox News interview aired on Wednesday.

Employees seek details on latest layoffs

Employees were informed of the latest reductions through emails sent on Tuesday (October 6), according to reports. Discussions later took place on an internal Amazon Slack channel with about 37,000 members, with workers asking about severance, notice periods and access to internal job openings, reported India Today.

Also Read: Meta announces 8,000 layoffs amid AI-led workforce restructuring

The affected positions span customer service, selling partner services, marketplace support and engineering within Amazon’s retail business. Some employees also asked whether the cuts could extend to Mexico and other parts of Europe.

Layoffs add to months of workforce concerns

The layoffs follow months of concern among Amazon’s corporate workforce over another broad reduction. Some leaders had scaled back planning for coming quarters as they expected teams and priorities to change.

Amazon is preparing to spend a record USD 220 billion on data centres, chips and other infrastructure for AI. It has also contacted former employees, including some affected by earlier cuts, about vacancies in AWS and its AI operations.