- Amazon.Com, Inc AMZN was preparing to cut jobs in the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica by the end of the day Wednesday under its layoff plans involving 18,000 employees.
- Amazon fired 2,300 employees in Seattle and Bellevue, Reuters reports.
- The downsizing will most severely impact Amazon's human resources and store divisions.
- The company expected to notify all affected employees in the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica by the end of the day, CNBC reports.
- Amazon will later inform employees in other regions like China.
- Amazon also shut down its charity donation program AmazonSmile.
- Amazon donated roughly $500 million to charities since the program launched in 2013, CNBC reports.
- Amazon now plans to wind down AmazonSmile by Feb. 20.
- Amazon said will continue to invest in areas where it can "make meaningful change," such as assisting with natural disaster relief, affordable housing initiatives and community assistance programs.
- Amazon's Devices and Services group, known for the Alexa digital assistant and Echo smart speakers, took the most brutal hit as the downsizing began in 2022.
- Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had said the downsizing, amounting to about 6% of the company's roughly 300,000 corporate employees, would mainly impact the e-commerce and human resources divisions.
- Amazon's downsizing began in November when it shared plans to axe 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs.
- Microsoft Corp MSFT proposed to slash 5% of its employees or 11,000 jobs.
- The job cuts will affect several engineering divisions.
- Microsoft will likely lay off as much as one-third of its recruiting staff.
- AMZN Price Action: AMZN shares traded lower by 1.73% at $93.81 in the premarket on the last check Thursday.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Loading...
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
Join Now: Free!
Already a member?Sign in
