Amazon layoffs: Hundreds of AWS jobs cut

Rural post offices bogged down by Amazon orders

Workers are saying the United States Postal Service on San Juan Island is so overwhelmed by the surge of shipments, tents were set up outside to accommodate the influx.

SEATTLE - Amazon said Wednesday it's cutting hundreds of jobs in its cloud computing unit AWS as part of a strategic shift.

The company will trim "a few hundred roles" in the team that overlooks technology for physical stores, a move that comes just a day after Amazon said it was ditching Just Walk Out technology in its U.S. grocery stores.

In addition to the physical stores technology team, Amazon said it’s cutting "several hundred roles" in the AWS sales, marketing and global service organization. Most of those cuts are related to business changes in AWS training and certification programs as well as sales operations. The tech giant said it was also making cuts elsewhere so it can invest in other business priorities.

"These decisions are difficult but necessary as we continue to invest, hire, and optimize resources to deliver innovation for our customers," Amazon spokesperson Duncan Neasham said in a statement.

Amazon and AWS logos are displayed during the Viva Technology conference at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles on June 14, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)

The AWS layoffs follow other layoffs that happened at Amazon and its subsidiaries this year. In January, the company cut several hundred positions across its Prime Video and MGM Studios unit. That same month, Twitch, the popular social media platform owned by Amazon, laid off more than 500 jobs in a bid to save on costs. The online audiobook and podcast service Audible also laid off about 5% of its workforce.

Amazon says it will continue to hire in priority areas. The company currently has thousands of AWS job openings posted online. It says it will try to find internal opportunities for employees whose roles are impacted.