Amazon is laying off employees again. After firing thousands of workers last year, the e-commerce giant has announced a fresh round of job cuts affecting several hundred employees from its streaming and studio operations, namely its Prime Video and MGM Studios divisions.In an internal memo sent to Amazon employees on Wednesday, Mike Hopkins, the SVP of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, informed staff that the company has conducted several reviews and identified areas where it can reduce or discontinue investments to focus on improving the platform. Hence, it is reducing the workforce as part of restructuring and optimising the business.Throughout the past year, weve looked at nearly every aspect of our business with an eye towards improving our ability to deliver even more breakthrough movies, TV shows, and live sports in a personalised, easy to use entertainment experience for our global customers, reads the memo by Hopkins. As a result, weve 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. As a result of these decisions, we will be eliminating several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organisation.While the exact number of impacted employees from this layoff drive is not disclosed by Amazon, the company told IndieWire that the layoffs will affect a relatively small percentage of Hopkins team. Significantly, Amazon acquired MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022. According to the company, the latest round of layoffs was also influenced by the deal, citing lingering challenges arising from that acquisition.Per Hopkins, affected Amazon staff will be notified about their layoff by Thursday morning, and the outreach will be completed in the morning. Meanwhile, the company is also reviewing Amazons FAST service, Freevee.
