Amazon executives address latest round of layoffs in memos to workers

According to memos sent Wednesday to Amazon.com Inc. employees, recent layoffs have affected the company's profitable cloud division and human resources department.

The job cuts are part of a 9,000 employee workforce reduction announced by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in late March. Jassy stated that the affected employees, mainly in Amazon Web Services and advertising, would be notified by the end of April.

Twitch did not disclose how many positions would be eliminated in each organization, but it said in March that 400 employees would be laid off. There have been a few layoffs in the video games team and the advertising department, but most of the 9,000 layoffs were made by major divisions such as AWS and its Human Resources arm, People eXperience & Technology.

In a memo sent to AWS employees, CEO Adam Selipsky stated that "it is a difficult day for our entire organization." I fully understand the impact of this on each person and their family. We strive to treat all those affected with respect, and provide resources and touchpoints that will help in the transition.

The 18,000 layoffs that took place between November and January also affected 9,000 employees. Over the past six months, the company has experienced the biggest reduction of its workforce in history.

The 27,000 layoffs total are part of an overall trend in tech and at Amazon. Jassy's been cutting costs at the company over the last few quarters, as the macroeconomic conditions and a slowdown of revenue growth have affected quarterly profits.

The company implemented a hiring freeze for the entire organization at the end last year. It also slowed down the expansion of physical stores and let certain warehouse projects linger.

Business Journal obtained an internal memo from Amazon that informed staffers in its Halo team, which is a team of devices under the health umbrella, of the company's plans to wind down the Halo Program by terminating an undisclosed amount of employees and discontinuing hardware. This includes Halo View and Band products that have been removed from Amazon.com and third-party sellers.

Amazon has announced that it will cease supporting hardware on July 31. This information was revealed in an email sent out to customers and published on the blog of the company. All customers who bought Halo products within the last 12 months will receive a refund.

The full text of the memo Selipsky wrote to AWS staff on Wednesday:

AWS Team

You may be aware that we made a difficult decision recently to eliminate certain roles within Amazon, including AWS. I wanted to let everyone know that the conversations with AWS employees affected by this decision began today. Notification messages were sent to all employees in the U.S.A., Canada and Costa Rica. In other regions we follow local processes which could include consultations with employee representative groups and longer communication timelines with impacted staff.

Our organization is having a difficult day. I am fully aware of the impact this has on each person and their family. We strive to treat all those affected with respect and provide resources and touchpoints that will help in the transition. These packages include a separation benefit, health insurance transitional benefits and job placement assistance.

Thank you to all those we will be saying goodbye to today for what you have done in support of our business and customers. I am grateful. Thank you to all AWS developers for your compassion and empathy towards your colleagues.

In recent years, both the size of the business and our team has grown dramatically. This is due to the demand of customers for cloud computing and AWS's unique value. We have grown quickly because we've done everything we can to meet customer needs. This rapid growth and the macroeconomic and business climate dictate that we must focus our efforts on our top priorities - those things that are most important to our customers and will drive our business forward. This can mean that team members have to change the projects, teams, or initiatives on which they are working. In other cases, it may result in their roles being eliminated.

We are confident about our future prospects because our fundamentals are solid and our outlook is positive. Our cloud service is the best in many areas, including our features, security and operational performance. We continue to innovate on the most important areas for our customers, helping them to reduce costs, innovate quickly, and transform their businesses.

I am optimistic for the future. We will continue to transform the world as we face our opportunities and challenges.

Please accept my sincere thanks

Adam

Here's the complete text of Wednesday's memo from People eXperience & Technology (PXT), Senior Vice President Beth Galetti.

PXT Team

Andy explained a few weeks back that leaders in the company worked closely with their teams on deciding what investments to make, prioritizing the things that matter most to our customers and to the long-term success of our business. These changes also impact our OP2 plan, given PXT's close relationship with the business. We have therefore made the difficult decision of eliminating additional roles in the PXT organisation.

We shared this information with our PXT co-workers whose roles have been impacted in the U.S.A., Canada and Costa Rica. In other regions we follow local processes which could include consultations with employee representative groups and longer communication timelines with the impacted employees.

The decision to leave the company is not one that I take lightly. I understand the impact on both the employees who are leaving and those who remain.

Thank you to those who are leaving. We are here to help you through this difficult time. You have helped make Amazon the company that it is today. We offer packages in the U.S. that include a non-working 60-day transitional period, with full pay, benefits and a separation payout.

Although this moment may be difficult, I am energized by all the important work ahead. Together, we're building a workplace to help Amazonians innovate and deliver products for our customers. I'm proud of all the progress that we have made in the past few years, from making it easier for our employees to get the help and information they need to expanding benefits. PXT’s resilience, perseverance and leadership are reflected in this meaningful work. Thank you.

I, along with the rest of PXTLT is available to answer any questions you may have and offer support.

Beth