"Most Difficult Decision": After 3-Day Chaos, Amazon CEO Confirms Layoffs

As a result of a soured economic climate, Amazon confirmed on Thursday it is laying off employees. This follows days of rumors that the e-commerce giant would unleash a large-scale redundancy plan.

In an internal memo published on Amazon's website, chief executive Andy Jassy stated: "The economy remains in a challenging spot, and we've hired rapidly the last few years.".

Approximately 10,000 employees will be laid off by the platform and its various branches, according to US media reports.

Jassy did not confirm the figure, but he said the process had begun and would continue early next year.

Electronic devices, such as Kindle e-readers, were the first affected teams. There will also be an impact on physical shops.

"Leaders will continue to make adjustments," he wrote.

We won't know exactly how many other roles will be affected until early in 2023. Those decisions will be communicated to impacted employees and organizations.

During his 18 months as CEO, Mr Jassy said, "without a doubt, this is the most difficult decision we have made."

As he continued, "It's not lost on me or any of the leaders who make these decisions that these are real people with real emotions, ambitions, and responsibilities."

A reduction of 10,000 employees would represent a little less than one percent of the group's total payroll, which totaled 1.54 million at the end of September, not counting seasonal workers who are recruited during periods of increased activity like the Christmas holidays.

An aggressive hiring spree led to the layoffs.

From the first quarter of 2020 to two years later, Amazon doubled its workforce to 1.62 million employees due to the Coronavirus pandemic as cooped up people turned in earnest to online shopping.

Two weeks ago, Amazon announced a hiring freeze, and its workforce has already decreased since the start of the year.

Net profit at the US retail giant fell 9 percent year-over-year in the third quarter.

In the current quarter, the crucial holiday season, the group expects growth between 2 and 8 percent, anemic by its standards.

Several tech companies that had been hiring heavily during the pandemic have recently announced job cuts, including Meta, Twitter, Stripe, and Lyft.