We cannot go one week without hearing about more tech industry layoffs, can we? Amazon has announced an additional 9,000 terminations via a memo titled ‘Update from CEO Andy Jassy on Amazon’s operating plan and additional role eliminations.’ At least Jassy didn’t hide the news behind a rosy headline.
The CEO of Amazon came out swinging, announcing that “AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch” would be taking the brunt of the layoffs. Amazon Web Services (AWS) handles the company’s cloud platforms. PXT stands for People Experience and Technology Solutions. It’s Amazon’s innovation arm. Advertising and Twitch shouldn’t need an explanation.
Amazon shuttered 18K positions globally in January, but that wasn’t enough. This was only part of a multi-phase plan to streamline the company’s “costs and headcount.” The next phase encompasses an additional 9,000 terminations while also conducting “limited hiring in some of our businesses in strategic areas where we’ve prioritized allocating more resources.” What are these areas? Jassy does not specify.
Amazon’s CEO heads us off at the pass when it comes to asking why these cuts weren’t announced with the others. It turns out that he didn’t want all the teams/divisions to rush their assessments. It was good to know management took their time deciding who would be shafted. I’m sure it makes those people feel warm and fuzzy.
Jassy believes shedding this weight will lead to a better experience for Amazon’s customers, “being leaner while doing so in a way that enables us to still invest robustly in the key long-term customer experiences that we believe can meaningfully improve customers’ lives and Amazon as a whole.” His call for a leaner Amazon echoes what Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this month.
I ask myself, what did Andy Jassy sacrifice before he decided 27,000 employees needed to become unemployed in 2023? While we don’t know exactly how many people will be affected in each division, there has to be some tangible metric used that Amazon refuses to share with the outside world. Twitch may have become a glorified PG-13 webcam site over the past six or seven years, but the service has little competition. So where, exactly, were the staffing deficiencies?
Then again, this could be a good thing for Twitch, considering the horror stories we’ve heard about the staff.
[Source: About Amazon] [Source: GameIndustry.biz]ClownfishTV.com strives to be an apolitical, balanced and based pop culture news outlet. However, our contributors are entitled to their individual opinions. Author opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of our video hosts, other site contributors, site editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. This website contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. We disclaim products or services we have received for review purposes, as well as sponsored posts.
