Amazon preparing to cut thousands of jobs

Amazon is the latest tech firm preparing to cut thousands of jobs in response to the economic downturn, according to reports in the US.

The tech giant is said to be considering cutting around 3% of its office staff, which would mean around 10,000 people could be affected.

The reports come in the wake of substantial job cuts across the tech sector – Elon Musk cut around half of Twitter’s 7,500 global workforce after completing his takeover of the company, while Facebook owner Meta has also confirmed it is cutting around 11,000 jobs globally.

Amazon’s reported reductions are said to be a response to a slowing global economy, which is hitting the firm’s sales which had grown substantially during the pandemic.

The tech sector, in general, has been hit hard by the economic slowdown after companies saw huge growth during the pandemic as remote working increased. Amazon was among a number of firms to increase hiring to meet rising demand but is now being forced to consider cost-cutting as online sales slow post-pandemic.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who has stepped down as CEO but remains Chairman of the board, said on Twitter last month that the current economic climate meant it was time to “batten down the hatches”.

Bezos this week pledged to give away most of his estimated £104 billion fortune during his lifetime, telling CNN there were “big problems” in the world and the way to solve them was to “work together”.

Earlier this week, Amazon introduced a new virtual try-on tool across its European markets for thousands of footwear styles.