Amazon makes fresh job cuts, mainly in retail division

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it had reduced its workforce by a small number of employees, primarily in its retail division, which oversees the main e-commerce website. The layoffs, which took place during one of Amazon's biggest shopping days, coincided with the Prime Big Deal Days promotion. The company has been making a series of small reductions since a larger round of 30,000 job cuts began last year and continued into January.

Although the specific number of affected employees has not been disclosed, some employees have shared posts about the news on internal Slack channels. Amazon stated that they have adjusted parts of their Stores business to better enable them to deliver on their priorities. The decision to cut jobs was attributed to the company's overhiring during the pandemic.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and executive chairman, mentioned in a Fox News interview that continued job cuts had been necessary due to the company's significant growth in headcount during the pandemic. Employees from the US, India, and the UK were among those affected by the recent layoffs.