Amazon to lay off ‘several hundred’ from Prime Video, MGM Studios
Firm identifies “opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas” while focusing more on content and products that “deliver the most impact”
Streaming and e-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly all set to lay off hundreds of employees as the new year sets in. In an internal memo, the company has said it would eliminate “several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organisation” to increase “investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact”.
This comes close on the heels of Google announcing hundreds of layoffs from its digital assistant, hardware, and engineering teams. This trend continues from last year, when Amazon handed more than 27,000 employees pink slips. While Google cut 12,000 jobs, other tech giants Facebook and Microsoft laid off 10,000 workers each.
To “discontinue investments in certain areas”
Mike Hopkins, the senior vice-president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, reportedly told the employees in the memo that throughout 2023, the company had explored ways to improve the platform and “identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas”.
“Throughout the past year, we’ve looked at nearly every aspect of our business with an eye towards improving our ability to deliver even more breakthrough movies, TV shows, and live sports in a personalised, easy to use entertainment experience for our global customers,” says the memo.
“As a result, we’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact. As a result of these decisions, we will be eliminating several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organisation,” it adds.
Impact of acquisition
Amazon acquired MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022 and these layoffs are being seen as an impact of that acquisition. At the same time, Amazon’s subsidiary, the live-streaming company Twitch, has also announced lay-offs of some 500 employees, which is around 35 per cent of its workforce. This comes after 400 job cuts in March 2023 as part of a larger downsizing at Amazon.
It is not yet clear exactly how many people are set to lose their jobs this time. Hopkins said in the memo that those laid off will be notified by Thursday (January 11) morning (US time).
