New details regarding staff reductions at Amazon are emerging during this year's major sale week. According to reports from Reuters and Business Insider, fewer than 1,000 positions are affected in the latest round.
The focus of the layoffs is on the company's "Stores" division, which operates the central e-commerce site. Affected departments include customer service and third-party seller services, with employees based in the US, India and the UK.
Adjusting Operations
Amazon has confirmed the information and explains the decision in a statement:
We have adjusted parts of our Stores organization as we assess that this structure better enables us to deliver on our priorities, says an Amazon spokesperson.
Earlier this year, the company carried out a comprehensive restructuring. The new cuts are the latest in a series following the larger wave where approximately 30,000 positions were removed from last year and into January.
The Pandemic Effect Persists
Jeff Bezos recently commented on the company's continued reductions in an interview with Fox News. He believes the situation is a consequence of the company hiring too aggressively during the pandemic.
People stayed home and ordered goods, and it was an incredibly intense period for us, said Jeff Bezos in the interview.