Amazon has laid off 100 workers from its devices and services team, which works on products like Kindle, Echo speakers, the Alexa voice assistant, and Zoox self-driving cars. The company confirmed the job cuts on Wednesday in a statement. Amazon said these layoffs make up a small part of the whole team and that they don’t make these decisions lightly. Amazon spokesperson Kristy Schmidt said the company decided to cut a small number of jobs to improve how its teams work and to better match its future product plans. Schmidt added that it was a tough decision and that Amazon is focused on helping the employees who are affected during this time of change.
Amidst this churn, a social media post of an ex-amazon employee claims that he received the termination mail at 5am. The post says, ” Amazon Layoffs: Email at 5 AM,I was just notified via email that my role was eliminated at Amazon. I’m a SDM L6 in Alexa with 3 years in Seattle.”
Amazon has been making small job cuts in different parts of the company in recent months, including teams working on Alexa, Wondery podcasts, stores, and communications. In 2023, it also reduced some roles related to Alexa, Reuters reported. Even though some jobs were cut, Amazon added around 4,000 new employees between the last three months of 2023 and the first three months of 2024, according to a recent earnings report.
“You were overpaid, good move for the company”
Internet quickly reacted to this post. A user said, You were overpaid, good move for the company. Sorry, welcome back to reality. Im sure you’re well-qualified for a $100k job. Start lookin…” Another added, “ Maybe time to consider retirement – hopefully you’ll have saved up enough.” “ Please forget everything you learnt at Amazon. Don’t carry all that to the next role.” “ $500K? Isn’t that more revenue than Alexa brings in per year?,” asked another. “No hints or rumors? Part of a larger restructuring within Alexa? Wish you best – with 25 years hopefully you have to not look for a job soon,” noted a user. “You were making half 1 million a year, and you have worked for 25 years, you can actually use this opportunity to retire. Life is short, do something you have always dreamt of,” claimed another.
Layoff scenario in global tech industry
In addition to Amazon, several other major companies, including Microsoft, have recently laid off employees. Microsoft cut nearly 3% of its workforce—its largest round of layoffs in over two years. According to a recent report from layoffs.fyi, more than 53,100 employees from 126 tech companies have been affected in the first five months of the year. Intel topped the list, with reports indicating plans to lay off around 20% of its workforce in the coming days. This follows an earlier round of layoffs that saw approximately 15,000 employees let go. While Intel later denied the immediate layoff figures, the company confirmed that workforce reductions would begin in the second quarter of 2025 and continue over several months. Meanwhile, European battery manufacturer Northvolt laid off roughly half of its staff—about 2,800 employees—at the end of March, just weeks after filing for bankruptcy. The Swedish firm had previously announced plans in September to cut around 1,600 jobs.