Amazon CEO’s email to staff on 9,000 job cuts: ‘You will be missed’

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has announced another round of layoffs

Amazon has announced a second round of layoffs that will affect around 9,000 employees of the global e-commerce giant.

In a memo to employees, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said it was a “difficult decision” taken for the long-term benefit of the company. These job cuts come over and above the 18,000 roles that were eliminated just two months ago.

Jassy, in his email to employees on March 20, explained why the layoffs were not announced together. “Some may ask why we didn’t announce these role reductions with the ones we announced a couple months ago. The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to share these decisions as we’ve made them so people had the information as soon as possible,” he wrote.

“The same is true for this note as the impacted teams are not yet finished making final decisions on precisely which roles will be impacted. Once those decisions have been made (our goal is to have this complete by mid to late April), we will communicate with the impacted employees (or where applicable in Europe, with employee representative bodies). We will, of course, support those we have to let go, and will provide packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support,” he added.

Read the full text of his email here.

Positions impacted in the second round of layoffs will be mostly in Amazon’s AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch divisions.

Jassy said that most of the company’s businesses had added a significant amount of headcount during the last several years, but the current economic scenario made it necessary to reduce the workforce. “Given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount,” the CEO of Amazon said in his email to employees.

He signed off by addressing the laid off employees, thanking them for their work. “It’s never easy to say goodbye to our teammates, and you will be missed,” wrote Jassy.