Amazon has started its mass cull of roughly 10,000 employees, cutting numerous hardware teams across the company.
According to the Financial Times, teams working on hardware for Amazon’s Halo health tracker, Alexa, and Kindle have been told they will be hit with redundancies that will take affect from late December (otherwise known as Christmas).
“It’s not surprising that that’s where they decided to start,” one unnamed Kindle employee told the FT.
“What isn’t clear to any of us is if it ends there.”
The layoffs, once complete, will mark the biggest downsizing in the company’s 28-year history.
“As part of our annual operating planning review process, we always look at each of our businesses and what we believe we should change,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said.
“As we’ve gone through this, given the current macro-economic environment (as well as several years of rapid hiring), some teams are making adjustments, which in some cases means certain roles are no longer necessary.
“We don’t take these decisions lightly, and we are working to support any employees who may be affected.”
