On Tuesday, the company notified local authorities in California that it will lay off about 260 workers at various facilities that employ data scientists, software engineers and other corporate workers. These job cuts will take effect from January 17.
The online retail giant, like other tech and social media giants, saw significant gains during the COVID-19 pandemic as shoppers running at home bought more products online. But revenue growth slowed as the worst of the pandemic receded and consumers relied less on e-commerce.
The Seattle-based company has reported two consecutive losses this year, largely due to a decline in the value of its shares in electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive. The company returned to profitability in the third quarter, but investors were disappointed by weaker-than-expected revenue and low forecasts for the current quarter, which is usually good for retailers because of the holiday shopping season.
The retail behemoth follows other tech giants that have cut jobs in recent weeks. Among them, Facebook parent Meta said last week it would lay off 11,000 people, about 13% of its workforce. And Elon Musk, Twitter’s new CEO, cut the company’s workforce in half this month.
