Amazon's Latest Round Of Layoffs Bigger Than Disclosed, Affecting Amazon Pay, Marketing: Reports

New internal communications from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) indicate that the most recent layoffs at the company have been more extensive than initially disclosed, affecting roles in Amazon Pay and marketing.

What Happened: Amazon has reportedly informed its employees about plans to cut hundreds of jobs from Prime Video and MGM Studios on Wednesday, Business Insider reported. This was preceded by a Bloomberg story on Tuesday, which revealed that Twitch, an Amazon-owned streaming platform, would be laying off 35% of its workforce.

Some Amazon Pay employees received an email on Monday instructing them to stay home and were subsequently laid off on Tuesday. The affected employees were offered 60 days of pay and additional severance, according to messages seen by Business Insider on an internal Slack group.

“Amazon Pay seems to be focused on our account management, solution architect[s], and sales roles,” wrote one employee in a message about the types of jobs cut.

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“Technical account management is completely gone.” Another employee mentioned that “a few marketing roles were cut as well,” which were unrelated to the Twitch/Prime Video layoffs.

When contacted by Benzinga, a spokesperson from Amazon confirmed that layoffs have happened in Amazon Pay via email.

“We regularly review the structure of our teams and make adjustments based on the needs of the business and, following a recent review, we've made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles on our Amazon Pay team. We're grateful to these employees for their contributions, and we’re committed to supporting them through this transition,” the spokesperson’s statement read.

Why It Matters: The latest round of layoffs at Amazon, particularly in the entertainment division, has been the subject of significant attention. The company’s streaming platform, Twitch, has been grappling with financial losses, reportedly planning to reduce its workforce by 35%.

Amazon made headlines in 2023 for cutting thousands of jobs, starting with an announcement in January to eliminate 18,000 positions. Additionally, some Amazon employees have reportedly noticed a rise in the number of colleagues quitting due to the company’s strict return-to-office policy.

These layoffs come at a time when Amazon’s stock is trading higher, suggesting that investors are optimistic about the company’s future despite the recent workforce reductions.

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Editor's note: This story has been updated with a comment from Amazon

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