Report: Amazon continues job cuts with Buy with Prime layoffs
Amazon is reportedly reducing headcount at the unit responsible for its Buy with Prime service.
In April 2022, Amazon introduced “Buy with Prime,” which enables U.S.-based Prime members to directly shop from brands' own online stores beyond Amazon.com with the Prime shopping experience and have orders fulfilled using Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment.
According to CNBC, Amazon has confirmed it is reducing fewer than 5% of the employees in its Buy with Prime division but did not specify how many employees in total work there. Some affected employees reportedly worked in Amazon’s multi-channel fulfilment division.
“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 Buy with Prime team,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement posted by CNBC.
Amazon will reportedly attempt to find internal placement for employees affected by these layoffs and will provide them with pay and benefits for at least 60 days, as well as a severance package. Interestingly, the layoffs come a week after the company announced a Buy with Prime integration with Salesforce, the latest in a series of extensions of the service’s reach and functionality.
Amazon ramps up layoffs
Amazon has been intensifying efforts to trim headcount as the e-tail giant faces a softening consumer marketplace. Last week, the company eliminated several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organization, and also laid off “just over 500 people” across its Twitch gaming streaming platform.
This includes November 2023 reductions in its Alexa workforce, as well as an April 2023 decision to eliminate positions in its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing unit in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica.
And in a March 2023 memo to employees, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company intends to eliminate about 9,000 workers. In the memo, Jassy explained that after hiring more than 450,000 people in the U.S. between the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and September 2021, the company needs to reassess its staffing levels.
At the beginning of 2023, Amazon said it planned to eliminate just over 18,000 roles in 2023, with the majority of cuts in its Amazon Stores and PXT organizations. In November 2022, Amazon publicly announced it had decided to “consolidate” some teams and programs in the devices and services organization (responsible for product lines such as Amazon Echo and Kindle devices).
The company also announced a voluntary reduction offer for some employees in its PXT organization. Other areas of its business where Amazon has reduced headcount include the Whole Foods Market specialty grocery chain.