Amazon (AMZN) is making major cuts to it workforce — again.
The e-commerce giant announced plans to eliminate 16,000 roles. Amazon executive Beth Galetti said in a blog post Wednesday morning that the cuts are intended to reduce layers, increase ownership, and reduce bureaucracy.
Last October, Amazon shared plans to cut its workforce by roughly 14,000. Galetti said on Wednesday that this is not part of a larger reduction to its workforce, emphasizing plans to continue to hire and “invest in strategic areas and functions that are critical to our future.”
“Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm — where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan,” she wrote.
The cuts come after CEO Andy Jassy said in late 2024 that he wanted the company to “operate like the world’s largest startup.”
Amazon’s stock ticked higher ahead of the market open on Wednesday.
This announcement also comes after the company announced plans to close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores to focus on delivery services and expanding Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired in 2017.
“While we’ve seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven’t yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion,” the company said in the release.
According to sources close to the matter, Amazon plans to evaluate each store to see which locations can be converted into Whole Foods stores.