Technology layoffs aren't limited to Silicon Valley, with Seattle-based Amazon cutting hundreds of employees from its cloud division. The cloud division is a key business unit that builds technology for the company's commerce business as well as external retailers and brands.
Amazon Web Services has coveted positions in sales, marketing, and global services, in addition to hundreds of roles from our physical store technology team. The revelation came from an internal email leaked to Geekwire on Wednesday. WWD confirmed this news directly with the company.
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Naturally, Amazon is trying to eliminate duplication in its workforce. While the company's statement emphasized that the job cuts were due to rationalization, it seemed to acknowledge the harsh reality that hundreds of roles will be eliminated. “We did not make this decision lightly. We are committed to supporting our employees' transition to new roles within and outside of Amazon,” the company said. “These decisions are difficult but necessary as we continue to invest, hire and optimize our resources to deliver innovation to our customers.”
But the company says AWS' cuts aren't just about cutting fat, but focusing on “key strategic areas” that will have the biggest impact. These efforts could extend far beyond his Amazon's own retail operations to his AWS customer base, which includes 1,179 fashion brands, according to ReadyContacts data.
The layoffs follow previous cuts that affected approximately 27,000 employees in 2022 and 2023 as part of CEO Andy Jassy's cost-cutting campaign. is. In the end, tightening the belt seems to have worked. In its most recent quarterly financial report, filed in February, the $170 billion company beat analysts' expectations for overall revenue and revenue, as well as specific business units such as advertising. The outlier was AWS, whose revenue of $24.2 billion barely met expectations.
It's no surprise that Amazon is paying particular attention to its cloud division. At the time, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsabsky said AWS' growth over the past year had slowed primarily due to customers' own cost reductions. However, he said work is picking up. Reason: Artificial intelligence boom. According to Olsavsky, AWS has a “huge interest” in generative AI services such as Q chatbot for enterprises.
Its most visible efforts may be the launch of consumer-facing products like the Rufus AI shopping assistant. Meanwhile, the company is busy exploring new frontiers in retail through its Amazon One biometrics platform, which allows customers to walk into a brick-and-mortar store and pay for goods by showing their palm to a scanning device. The hand-scanning technology is expected to replace Amazon's “Just Walk Out” system, which uses cameras and sensors. According to recent reports, Amazon is exiting the grocery store business.
Physical store technology teams are definitely going to be impacted in some way by scrubbing through hundreds of jobs right now. The company described the layoffs as part of a “broader strategic shift in the use of some applications in Amazon-owned and third-party stores,” but did not specify what that meant. . In a separate message to employees, his AWS vice president of applications, Dilip Kumar, mentioned the impact of checkouts on his team.
Overall, the details are that Amazon's retail business is in flux, and how this changes with AWS could impact how retail works as a whole and impact sectors such as fashion. It shows that.
Amazon also noted that while AWS is cutting some positions, it is hiring thousands of others and shifting employees internally when possible. U.S.-based workers who are laid off will continue to receive 60 days of pay and benefits, assistance with external referrals, transitional medical benefits, and are eligible for some severance benefits.
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