Amazon lays off 2,300 workers in Seattle and Bellevue

Amazon has laid off 2,300 workers in Seattle and Bellevue, according to information released Wednesday by Washington state’s unemployment office.

The layoffs will begin March 19, following a 60-day transitional period where Amazon will continue to pay affected employees but won’t expect them to work.

The most recent round of layoffs, announced Wednesday and part of the company’s efforts to slim down, affected its human resources and stores divisions. Amazon’s Worldwide Stores business, led by Doug Herrington, is the retail arm of the tech and e-commerce giant. It includes Amazon’s online and physical stores, marketplace for third-party sellers, and Amazon’s Prime subscription service. 

Of the 2,300 workers cut from Amazon’s Puget Sound-region headquarters, 1,852 are in Seattle and 448 are in Bellevue. Details on the scope of Amazon’s layoffs came as a Washington State Employment Security Department notice Wednesday revealed that at least 878 of the 10,000 workers Microsoft plans to cut are based in the Seattle area.

Seattle is Amazon’s biggest campus, with 55,000 employees based in its South Lake Union offices. The company had been on a hiring spree outside the city to expand its Puget Sound headquarters, bringing its total head count in Bellevue to 10,000 last summer.

All employees in the U.S. and Canada affected by this most recent wave of job cuts will likely be notified Wednesday, according to messages shared with The Seattle Times by Amazon. A spokesperson for the company declined to disclose how many workers were laid off companywide.

After weeks of hinting at a slowdown — including a corporate hiring freeze and kicking off an annual cost-cutting review — Amazon began layoffs in November. The first wave largely affected employees in the company’s Devices organization, which includes Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa, as well as Kindle, smart home products, Echo speakers, health device Halo and home robot Astro. 

Amazon also offered resignation packages to some workers in its human resources department. The company internally calls that team People Experience and Technology, or PXT.

After telling employees in November the job cuts would continue into the new year, CEO Andy Jassy said earlier this month the layoffs would likely total 18,000. That came as a shock to some: When news of the layoffs first broke, it was expected the job cuts would affect about 10,000 people. 

On Wednesday, the heads of Amazon’s HR and stores division confirmed the cuts had come.

“While it is painful to say goodbye to many of our talented colleagues, it is an important part of a wider effort to lower our cost to serve so we can continue investing in the wide selection, low prices and fast shipping that our customers love,” said Herrington, who was named CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores business in June. 

Earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, Herrington continued, Amazon’s first priority was scaling up, to meet the needs of customers spending more time at home. “The exit out of COVID” over the past year has been challenging for Amazon, with labor shortages, supply chain difficulties, inflation and “productivity overhang” after the company expanded rapidly, he said. 

The layoffs are one of several steps Amazon has planned to decrease its costs, Herrington said. It now plans to increase local stock of some of its most popular items and increase the ways customers can buy everyday essentials. 

“Every team has a role to play in finding ways to reduce costs while improving selection, pricing and delivery speeds,” Herrington wrote. “I am confident that Amazonians will bring their ownership, innovation and bias for action to this challenge, unlocking even more value for customers.” 

Beth Galetti, head of Amazon’s HR department, told employees that after initial steps, like a hiring freeze and offering voluntary release programs to some workers, “further action” was needed.

“The nature of our work in PXT is such that we often need to support employees and customers while being affected by the very same issues affecting those who need our support,” Galetti wrote. “It is part of what makes our work meaningful, but there are moments when it is also personally challenging.” 

Amazon said laid-off workers will receive severance, a separation payment, transitional benefits and external job placement support.