Attendees walk through an exhibit hall during the Amazon Web Services Reinvent conference at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Nov. 29, 2022.
Noah Berger | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Amazon‘s cloud computing division is laying off hundreds of employees across its physical technology stores and sales and marketing units, the company confirmed Wednesday.
“We have identified some targeted areas of the organization that we need to streamline to continue to focus our efforts on the key strategic areas that we believe will have the greatest impact,” an Amazon Web Services spokesperson said in a statement. “We have not made these decisions lightly, and we are committed to supporting employees as they transition to new roles inside and outside of Amazon.”
The cuts were first reported by GeekWire.
Amazon’s profitable AWS unit has seen sales growth slow in recent quarters as companies reduce cloud spending amid rising interest rates. Amazon executives expressed some optimism in February when they said the market was starting to show signs of reacceleration.
The cuts to AWS’s store technology team come after Amazon said it would remove cashierless payment systems at its Fresh stores in the United States. The AWS unit includes teams that oversee the cashierless technology, called Just Walk Out, as well as its Dash smart carts and Amazon One handheld-based payment technology. The store’s technology team was moved from Amazon’s retail group and incorporated into its cloud computing division in 2022.
The AWS spokesperson said the company decided to make cuts to its store technology division “as a result of a broader strategic shift in the use of certain applications across Amazon-owned and third-party stores.”
Amazon continues to reduce its staff after more than a year of mass layoffs. Starting in late 2022 and continuing through 2023, Amazon initiated the largest layoffs in its history, cutting more than 27,000 jobs in nearly every area of the company. So far this year, Amazon has laid off employees at its Twitch, Audible, Buy with Prime, Prime Video and MGM Studios units.
Employees in the United States will continue to receive pay and benefits for at least 60 days and will be entitled to a severance package.
