Amazon.com Inc. (Seattle) is in the process of laying off several hundred employees at its Seattle headquarters. It's also reportedly laying off hundreds of additional employees throughout its global operations. Most of these cuts are affecting employees throughout the company’s consumer retail businesses.
The cuts are a rare move for the retailer and follow two years of rapid growth, which has caused some units to be over budget. Notably, Amazon is the second-largest U.S.-based corporate employee, so the number of layoffs is relatively “modest, ” according to The Seattle Times.
The layoffs are expected to be completed in the next few weeks, and Amazon said it will work to find new positions elsewhere in the company for affected employees.