Amazon Cuts Under 100 Roles In Books Division: Retail Sentiment Jumps On Recent Capacity Expansion News
Synopsis
CEO Andy Jassy has previously indicated plans to reduce what he described as excess managerial layers.
Amazon.com (AMZN) has laid off under 100 employees in its books division, which includes its Goodreads review site and Kindle unit, according to a Reuters report.
The e-commerce giant confirmed the layoffs to the publication and said the decision was part of "ongoing work to make our teams and programs operate more efficiently, and to better align with our business roadmap."
Amazon has been making surgical cuts company-wide. CEO Andy Jassy has previously indicated plans to reduce what he described as excess managerial layers.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment shifted to 'bullish' from 'neutral' the previous day. Retail investors' optimistic positioning is likely based on the company's recent expansion announcements, including a $10-billion data center investment in North Carolina.
Amazon announced a $5 billion investment, also aimed at expanding its data center capacity, in Taiwan on Thursday evening.
In recent months, Amazon has cut about 100 roles in its devices division, which encompasses the Kindle, Echo speakers, Alexa voice assistant, and Zoox autonomous vehicles.
Last month, Microsoft (MSFT) announced a 3% reduction in its workforce, affecting approximately 6,000 employees. More recently, Citigroup (C) said it would eliminate 3,500 technology jobs in China.
The continued retrenchment in the technology sector underscores the impact of a wider adoption of artificial intelligence technology, which is changing workflows and cautious spending from consumers in a challenging macroeconomic backdrop.
Amazon previously cut staff in its devices division in 2022 and 2023.
The development follows Amazon's recent major update to Alexa, its first in ten years, which added generative AI capabilities to make the assistant more conversational and action-oriented.
According to the company's disclosures, Amazon has added about 4,000 jobs from last year's fourth quarter to this year's first.
Amazon stock is down 5.2% year to date.
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