04 April 2024 , 09:35
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Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs in its AWS cloud computing unit as part of a strategic shift.
The company said “a few hundred roles” will be axed in the team that oversees technology used in its physical stores, and follows the announcement that it is ending its use of its self-service checkout “just walk out” tech in grocery stores in the US.
The big tech company also said it will cut several hundred jobs in the sales, marketing and global service teams at AWS. "These decisions are difficult but necessary as we continue to invest, hire and optimise resources to deliver innovation for our customers," AWS said in a statement.
They also said they're still going to hire people for important roles and that it has thousands of AWS job openings posted online. Amazon hasn't revealed which countries will be affected by these job cuts, but they did say they'll try to find new jobs inside the company for the workers who lose their current ones.
Lee Sustar, principal analyst at research and advisory firm Forrester, says that changing economic factors post pandemic plus the rise of artificial intelligence are likely factors in Amazon's decision. "AWS has been adapting to customers' cost-cutting efforts following the spike in cloud IT spending during the pandemic, assisting them in that process," he explained.
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"The resulting moderation of demand is a factor in these layoffs as well as enterprise cloud spending on AI flowing to Microsoft Azure, challengers like Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and new AI-focused cloud companies."
The cuts come after earlier job losses announced in January at Amazon's Prime Video and MGM Studios. The streaming service Twitch, which Amazon also owns, let go of over 500 people in the same month to save money. This is part of a bigger pattern of job cuts in the tech world over the last year and a half, with many big companies letting go of thousands of workers.