Amazon confirmed on October 7 that it had cut a small number of jobs, primarily in its Stores unit, which oversees its main e-commerce website. Reuters, in a report updated October 8, said a person familiar with the matter put the total below 1,000 white-collar workers. Employees in the United States, India and the United Kingdom were among those affected.
The company said it adjusted parts of the Stores business to better support its priorities. The cuts follow a larger round of reductions that began last year and continued into January, but the latest report does not establish that all Amazon divisions are shrinking or that the company is reducing its overall workforce by the same amount. Nor does it specify a direct change to shoppers' prices, delivery times or service.
For affected workers, the immediate consequence is job loss; for the wider retail labor market, one company's reductions are not evidence of a sector-wide trend. The announcement came during Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days promotion, but Reuters did not report that the promotion caused the cuts. Will these job cuts directly change what shoppers pay on Amazon? No price change was announced; the confirmed development is a workforce reduction, mainly in the Stores unit.