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Amazon.com (AMZN) will lay off several hundred employees in its streaming and studio operations. An internal note issued Wednesday signaled an extension of the massive job cuts that have swept through the tech industry over the past two years, into 2024.
The layoffs will predominantly affect staff at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios in the Americas. The reduction in staff will extend to most other regions by the end of the week, as reported by Reuters, citing the corporate communique.
Last year, the online retail giant cut over 27,000 jobs, joining the wave of U.S. tech layoffs. This downsizing comes after a period of significant hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, the company aims to refocus its investments and efforts on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact.
Amazon has been aggressively investing in its media business in recent years. This includes the $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM and approximately $465 million spent on the first season of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" on Prime Video in 2022. The company is also planning to introduce ads on Prime Video and a more expensive ad-free subscription tier in some markets, mirroring strategies employed by rivals like Netflix and Walt Disney.
The ongoing job cuts reflect a broader trend in the tech industry, where companies are re-prioritizing resources and targeting select projects and divisions. Amazon, which recently trimmed positions in its Alexa voice assistant division and witnessed Microsoft's staff reductions at LinkedIn, is also facing layoffs at its Twitch service, amounting to about 35% of its workforce. Despite these changes, Amazon's shares have risen, recording a 1.5% increase in afternoon trading, following a surge of over 80% last year.