Amazon, the American e-commerce giant, announced last month that the layoffs of over 14,000 employees almost affected various parts of its vast business, with engineers being hit more severely than other job categories.
According to documents submitted by Amazon to New York, California, New Jersey, and its headquarters in Washington state, nearly 40% of the over 4,700 positions cut in these four states were engineer positions. This data was reported in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) submitted by Amazon to these state agencies.
These numbers only represent a portion of the total layoffs announced by Amazon in October, marking the largest round of layoffs in the 31-year history of this retail giant.
Amazon stated that it is also reallocating resources to increase investments in artificial intelligence (AI). Amazon CEO Andy Jassy predicted in June that with the efficiency improvement brought by AI, the company will further reduce its workforce in the coming years.
Beth Galetti, Amazon’s head of human resources, emphasized the importance of innovation in the memo announcing the layoffs. Now, the company must innovate with fewer human resources, especially among engineers.
In a statement, Amazon mentioned that for the vast majority of its layoffs, AI was not the driving factor, and the larger goal of the layoffs is to reduce bureaucracy and emphasize speed.
WARN documents show that this round of layoffs impacted software engineers at different levels, with Software Development Engineer II (SDE II) being particularly affected.
According to the WARN filings in these states, over 500 product managers and project managers were laid off in this round of layoffs, accounting for more than 10% of the total layoffs. The documents also revealed that senior managers and executive-level positions were also included in the layoffs.
As part of a broader cost-cutting effort, Amazon has been attempting to reduce investments in some more experimental or non-profitable projects in recent years. It has closed a telemedicine service, a children’s video calling device, a fitness wearable device, and several physical retail chain stores.
WARN filings from California show that Amazon’s video game division was targeted in the latest round of layoffs.
The documents indicate that in layoffs in Irvine, game designers, artists, and producers accounted for over a quarter of the layoffs; in the layoffs at the San Diego office, these positions make up about 11%.
According to posts by multiple employees on the professional social media platform LinkedIn, Amazon also significantly reduced its visual search and shopping team. This team was responsible for AI shopping tools like “Amazon Lens” and “Lens Live,” allowing users to search for products in real time using their camera or through saved images. Amazon only launched “Lens Live” in September of this year.
The team was primarily based in Palo Alto, California. The WARN documents submitted by Amazon show that software engineers, applied scientists, and quality assurance engineers in that location were severely affected by this round of layoffs.
Amazon’s online advertising business (one of its most profitable ventures) was also downsized. According to documents reviewed by CNBC, over 140 advertising sales and marketing positions were eliminated at Amazon’s New York office, accounting for about 20% of the 760 positions cut.
(This article was referenced from CNBC reports)