Amazon initiates layoffs in advertising unit
The company will shuffle the teams and may pause certain programmes
As part of CEO Andy Jassy's endeavour to cut costs, Amazon has begun laying off employees in its advertising unit, say media reports. Affected employees in the U.S. and Canada were notified through an email from Paul Kotas, Amazon senior vice president of advertising, IMDb and Grand Challenge.
The mail said that the company has been "prioritizing resources with an eye towards maximizing benefits to customers and the long-term health of our business."
The e-comm goliath has been experiencing its biggest spate of layoffs ever after the company saw a hiring surge during the pandemic. At the end of 2021, Amazon had a global workforce of 1.6 million.
As part of the firings in the Ads unit, Amazon will shuffle the teams and may pause certain programmes. "As a result, we have made deeply-considered decisions about how best to move forward, resulting in role eliminations for a small percentage of our organization," an excerpt from the memo read.
Kotas also wrote that the company's immediate focus is to help the affected team members through the period of transition. The fired employees will have a personal follow-up meeting with a leader from their team, explaining the next steps.
They will also receive full pay and benefits for the next 60/90 days plus an additional severance package and outplacement support to find a job.
