Amazon is laying off 2,198 employees across Washington as part of the company’s latest corporate workforce reduction, according to a new filing released Monday by the state Employment Security Department. A detailed list included with the Washington state filing shows that software development roles account for the largest share of the layoffs, with engineering management, program management, and technical product roles also hit hard. “This letter is being issued in accordance with any possible obligation under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and the Washington Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act (collectively, “WARN”) to notify you that Amazon is separating employees at the below facilities within the state of Washington (collectively, the “Facilities”), with employee separations expected to commence effective April 28, 2026.” says the WARN letter. Below this is the details of the positions and roles that Amazon is cutting. Amazon employs roughly 50,000 corporate workers in the Seattle region, which serves as its primary headquarters. A detailed list included with the Washington state filing, called WARN, shows that software development roles account for the largest share of the layoffs, with engineering management, program management, and technical product roles also hit hard. The cuts are part of Amazon’s company-wide layoffs announced last week that impact 16,000 corporate employees globally. Combined with a 14,000-worker layoff in October, it’s the largest corporate workforce reduction in the company’s history. Amazon also laid off 27,000 workers globally in 2022-2023.As per the WARN filing, of the total, more than half of the cuts impact Amazon’s core product and engineering organizations. The remaining positions span business intelligence, sales, marketing, infrastructure, QA, HR, design, and other support functions. Senior- and principal-level employees were also affected.A majority of the cuts — more than 1,400 — impact workers in Seattle, with more than 600 in nearby Bellevue, where Amazon has been expanding its office footprint. The list includes a significant number of “Manager III” and “Senior Manager” roles within software and product teams, suggesting Amazon is cutting layers of oversight, not just reducing individual contributor headcount.Amazon noted in the filing that employees who secure internal transfers before their separation dates will not ultimately be laid off. Separations are scheduled to begin April 28 and continue through late June, according to the filing, which you can view in full below.
Amazon memo to employees
In a memo to employees sent last week, Amazon senior vice president of people experience and technology Beth Galetti said the company is “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.”“I want to let you know that we’re making additional organizational changes across Amazon that will impact some of our teammates. I recognize this is difficult news, which is why I’m sharing what’s happening and why. Here’s the message shared with Amazon employees by the company:As I shared in October, we’ve been working to strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy. While many teams finalized their organizational changes in October, other teams did not complete that work until now.The reductions we are making today will impact approximately 16,000 roles across Amazon, and we’re again working hard to support everyone whose role is impacted. That starts with offering most US-based employees 90 days to look for a new role internally (timing will vary internationally based on local and country level requirements). Then, for teammates who are unable to find a new role at Amazon or who choose not to look for one, we’ll provide transition support including severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits (as applicable), and more.While we’re making these changes, we’ll also continue hiring and investing in strategic areas and functions that are critical to our future. We’re still in the early stages of building every one of our businesses and there’s significant opportunity ahead.Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan. But just as we always have, every team will continue to evaluate the ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate. That’s never been more important than it is today in a world that’s changing faster than ever.I’m grateful for how our teams continue to deliver – for customers, for each other, and for the incredible things we’re building together.”Thank you,Beth
Leave a Reply