Amazon announced in an internal memo Wednesday that it will lay off hundreds of employees in its streaming and studio operations, as the company extends massive layoffs from the past two years into 2024.
Staff facing departures at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios in the Americas will be notified on Wednesday, and by the end of the week in most other regions.
The online retail giant cut more than 27,000 jobs last year as part of a layoff in its U.S. tech sector as the industry hired heavily during the pandemic.
Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said: “While increasing investment, we have identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investment in specific areas and focus on the content and products that will have the most impact. “We will focus on that,” he told employees. Memo seen by Reuters.
The company has recently signed an $8.5 billion deal with MGM and an approximately $465 million investment in the first season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power” on Prime Video in 2022. The company is actively spending money to strengthen its media business.
It also plans to roll out ad-free subscriptions to Prime Video in some markets, similar to moves by rivals Netflix and Walt Disney Co.
After widespread layoffs in 2022 and 2023, many companies are now reconsidering their resource priorities and targeting select projects and departments.
Amazon recently cut some jobs in its Alexa voice assistant division, and Microsoft cut some jobs in its LinkedIn professional network.
Amazon's Twitch service plans to lay off 500 employees, about 35% of its workforce, according to media reports on Tuesday.
