Amazon to slash managerial jobs in cost-cutting drive

E-comm giant Amazon plans to slash as many as 14,000 managerial positions by early 2025, with an aim to cut around $2.1 to $3.6 billion annually. This will reduce the e-comm giant's overall strength of managers to 91,936 from 105,770 currently.

The purported layoffs are the part of CEO Andy Jassy's strategy to boost efficiency, simplify decision-making and streamline operations, reported The Financial Express. The move is expected to help the company reduce bureaucracy and accelerate processes. Amazon has not come out with an official statement on the matter so far.

With the current layoffs, Amazon plans to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by 15%. Amazon has also implemented additional measures to streamline its business, which include reporting of inefficiencies, increasing direct reports, reviewing pay packages and curtailing excessive recruitment for senior positions.

In 2024, Amazon laid off around 200 employees from its North America division and cut around 1700 jobs in Canada. The year 2023 saw worst layoffs in the company's history, with around 45,000 employees losing their jobs.

Some of the biggest companies have announced layoffs this year, including Intel, HP, Autodesk, and Meta.

Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta this year announced to lay off 5% of its staff, or around 3,600, starting February 10. Last year as well, Meta had resorted to a third round of layoffs across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Threads, along with its Reality Labs division. In 2022, Meta had laid off over 11,000 employees, followed by another 10,000 cuts in 2023.