Retail giant Amazon.com Inc. is cutting its workforce by hundreds in the division that oversees the voice-activated Alexa smart assistant, as stated in a memo sent to company employees last week. The layoffs at Amazon will impact the employees in Canada and the US and the India team will also find out next week, indicating that staff in India are likely to be laid off too, the media has reported.
Daniel Rausch, an Amazon vice president overseeing teams for Alexa and the company's Fire TV streaming franchise, in a memo, mentioned that the company is realigning efforts to match business priorities. This includes a focus on developing capabilities driven by generative artificial intelligence (AI), leading to the discontinuation of some initiatives and the elimination of several hundred roles, news agency Bloomberg has reported.
There has been no official word on what roles from Amazon are to be eliminated.
According to Rausch, Amazon employees in the US and Canada set to be laid off would be informed Friday morning Seattle time. Employees in India will find out next week, and cuts in other countries may follow other timelines to allow for consultations with employee groups or other factors, the Bloomberg report noted.
Earlier last week, Amazon underwent a workforce reduction within its gaming division, as disclosed in an internal communication reported by Reuters. This move, constituting the second round of layoffs within a week, is part of the company's larger restructuring strategy. According to an internal memo shared with employees, the job cuts are positioned as a strategic manoeuvre to intensify efforts in areas with the highest growth potential.
The recent layoffs targeted approximately 180 employees, informing them that their positions were being eliminated. This marks the second round of divisional layoffs within the year, following reductions in the streaming music and podcast division and the People Experience and Technology (PXT) unit.