Amazon has announced another round of job cuts, this time affecting its Selling Partner Services division after cutting around 30,000 jobs in the last six months. This division works closely with millions of third-party merchants on onboarding, logistics and account support. According to a report by Business Insider, a company spokesperson confirmed that that the layoffs involve “small number” of employees. This move of the company roughly 30,000 layoffs across waves in October and January, as well as smaller cuts in its robotics division in March.
Amazon layoffs: Here’s what the company said
“We regularly review our organisations to ensure we’re best set up to deliver on our goals,” the spokesperson said. “Following a recent review, we’ve made the difficult decision to eliminate a relatively small number of roles in our Selling Partner Services team. We don’t take decisions like this lightly, and we’re committed to supporting affected employees with transitional health care, a separation payment, and outsourced job placement services.”The latest round of job cuts at Amazon underscore how the e-commerce major is working on to reshape its sprawling retail organization under CEO Andy Jassy, who has spent the past two years emphasizing efficiency and cost discipline. While earlier layoffs were framed as a response to pandemic-era over-expansion, the continued reductions suggest Amazon is still fine-tuning headcount across multiple businesses.
AI investments and workforce concerns
While cutting jobs on one hand, Amazon is also aggressively expanding its AI investments on the other. The company is investing a lot in AI across retail, logistics, and also advertising. The executives at Amazon have also asked the teams to adopt AI tools in order to automate routine tasks and streamline operations. Some employees worry this could lead to further role reductions, a concern Jassy himself acknowledged last year when he said AI could help “reduce” the company’s workforce over time.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy tells investors not to fear AI expenditure
Recently, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that investors should not worry about Amazon’s heavy spending on AI, arguing that it will drive long-term growth. Speaking on “Mad Money” recently, Andy Jassy said the company’s large investments in AI infrastructure are necessary and is exactly why the investors will be rewarded over time. Jassy described AI as a major turning point in technology. “We believe that AI is the biggest technology transformation in our lifetimes,” he said. “It’s going to reinvent every single customer experience we know and altogether new ones we never imagined.” Andy Jassy added that the scale of Amazon’s investment reflects the size of the opportunity.Amazon said earlier this year that it plans to invest $200 billion in capital expenditure, largely focused on AI infrastructure such as data centres. The announcement had initially caused concern in the market, with shares falling after the company’s earnings report. However, the stock later recovered and has since reached new highs. Jassy said such spending is necessary when the opportunity is large. “When you have shifts that are this momentous … you want to bet big,” he said.
