Amazon announces layoffs in devices and services division

Amazon

Amazon has confirmed layoffs affecting around 100 employees in its Devices and Services division, marking the latest in a string of workforce reductions under CEO Andy Jassy’s cost-cutting strategy. The division encompasses high-profile products such as Alexa, Echo, Ring, and the company’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary Zoox.

According to a report by CNBC, a spokesperson described the move as part of an effort to “operate more efficiently” and better align with the company’s evolving product roadmap. While Amazon declined to specify which units were impacted, it noted that hiring continues within parts of the division.

The layoffs come as Amazon continues to tighten its corporate structure, following a broader organizational shake-up that began in 2022. Since then, the company has let go of more than 27,000 employees, with cuts touching multiple business lines including the Devices and Services unit in both 2022 and 2023.

The reduction aligns with Amazon’s internal goal to boost the ratio of individual contributors to managers—a metric CEO Jassy had pledged to improve by 15% by Q1 2025. In practice, this has meant reducing middle management roles and flattening teams across departments.

Amazon isn’t alone in paring down. Just a day before, Microsoft announced plans to lay off about 6,000 employees, also citing efforts to reduce layers of management.

While Amazon’s latest cuts are relatively small in number, they signal continued pressure to streamline operations, especially in hardware and AI-adjacent segments like Alexa, which have yet to become consistent profit centers.

For now, the company insists its Devices and Services roadmap remains intact. But the quiet scale of these layoffs might be hinting at some impact on Amazon’s long-term hardware ambitions.