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Amazon laying off corporate employees in rare cutback

seattletimes.com

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Re: Amazon laying off corporate employees in rare cutback

#3
post #2

Acc to article, seems like it’s happening in established businesses like Retail. Maybe those old businesses are due for some consolidation? In last earnings release, Bezos said he’s doubling down on Alexa, which I presume includes increased hiring.

Voice search is already huge and I imagine it may be even bigger. I see Amazon as a threat to Google in this area.

Re: Amazon laying off corporate employees in rare cutback

#5
post #4

I wonder what type of positions are being targeted in these layoffs? They mentioned which groups but not whom.

My understanding is that most groups outside of Alexa and AWS are in a hiring freeze and they are trying to cut down on the amount of middle-management across the board.

Re: Amazon laying off corporate employees in rare cutback

#7

Could this be in any way related to the roll out of HQ2? Using that expansion to trim perceived dead-wood? If so, this might be the first of a few re-orgs.

It seems like the point of HQ2 is to appease the current administration for tax cuts, allow for them to cut back on the fact they overexpanded their teams, get even more tax breaks from the local government where they expand, and get a bunch new fresh talent that can be worked to death.

Re: Amazon laying off corporate employees in rare cutback

#8
post #2

Acc to article, seems like it’s happening in established businesses like Retail. Maybe those old businesses are due for some consolidation? In last earnings release, Bezos said he’s doubling down on Alexa, which I presume includes increased hiring.

Voice search is already huge and I imagine it may be even bigger. I see Amazon as a threat to Google in this area.

It's always astounded me how a technology change can kill a company overnight. Google almost died with searches going mobile but somehow bought Android and survived but killed BlackBerry. Now voice search is a risk.
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