Amazon

Amazon to lay off hundreds from Twitch and Prime Video

Author: Editors Desk Source: The Guardian

January 10, 2024 at 19:05

Amazon has spent aggressively in recent years to bolster its media business. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP

Internal note says company has ‘identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas’ amid wave of layoffs

Amazon will lay off several hundred employees in its streaming and studio operations, according to an internal note sent on Wednesday. The announcement came the same day as the live-streaming company Twitch, a subsidiary of the e-commerce giant, disclosed that it would lay off about 35% of its workforce, or 500 employees.

Amazon last year cut more than 27,000 jobs as part of a wave of US tech layoffs, drawing a sharp line under the industry’s recruitment spree during the pandemic. It was far from alone. Facebook and Microsoft each laid off 10,000 workers last year; Google cut 12,000.

“We’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact,” Mike Hopkins, senior vice-president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, told employees.

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