According to Reuters and others on the 3rd (local time), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s cloud division, said it would cut hundreds of employees in some departments. “We have identified some areas of the organization that need to be slimmed down to focus on key strategic areas,” an AWS spokesperson said. “The company will make efforts to help employees affected by the job cuts find new roles.”
The job cuts are reportedly targeted at AWS’ offline store technology team and sales and marketing departments. Amazon has the largest share of about 40% in the cloud market, but it has been chased by Microsoft and Google as growth slowed significantly last year.
Amazon cut 27,000 jobs between late 2022 and early last year, and recently cut jobs for its voice-operated Alexa secretary, Prime Video and Music division, and its internet video streaming subsidiary, Twitch.
AWS’s offline store technology team’s job cuts came after Amazon announced that it would eliminate the unmanned checkout system at Fresh stores in the U.S. Amazon explained that “Dash smart carts,” which automatically track and tally products when shoppers put them in their carts, will replace unmanned checkout counters.
The AWS department includes teams that oversee dash smart carts, palm-based payment technology, and unmanned checkout technology. The store technology team was transitioned from Amazon’s retail group to the AWS department in 2022. Big Tech is working on a partial workforce reduction this year, although not as large as last year.
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
