Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) layoffs will now total more than 18,000 as part of a previously disclosed workforce reduction, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in a public staff note on Wednesday.
The layoff decisions, which Amazon will announce on January 18, will primarily affect the company’s e-commerce and human-resources departments, he said. The layoffs represent 6% of Amazon’s roughly 300,000-person corporate workforce and mark a swift turn for a retailer that recently doubled its base pay ceiling in order to compete more aggressively for talent. Amazon employs over 1.5 million people, including warehouse workers, making it the country’s second-largest private employer after Walmart Inc. (WMT.N).
