synopsis

The unit oversees the development of Kindle, Echo speakers, Alexa voice assistant, and Zoox autonomous vehicles, among other products and services.

Amazon.com (AMZN) told Reuters and CNBC on Wednesday that it is laying off 100 employees in its devices and services division.

Though small in scale, the cuts reflect how tech firms continue to make targeted layoffs, responding to a shifting business landscape driven by AI expansion and U.S. tariffs.

Fellow tech heavyweight Microsoft announced a much more significant cut the previous day, affecting 3% of its global workforce, or roughly 6,000 workers, to reduce layers of management.

Amazon previously cut staff in its devices division in 2022 and 2023, impacting teams behind products like the Kindle, Echo speakers, Alexa voice assistant, and Zoox autonomous vehicles.

This 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.

In a statement to news outlets, Amazon said the cuts would make its "teams and programs operate more efficiently, and better align with our product roadmap."

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment dropped to 'neutral' from 'bullish.'

AMZN sentiment and message volume as of May 14 | Source: Stocktwits

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 4.2% year to date.

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