Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services is cutting “several hundred” jobs in its sales, marketing and global services teams and a few hundred employees in its physical stores technology team as the cloud computing giant shifts its focus.
The majority of the job cuts in sales, marketing and services are in training, certification and sales operations, Geekwire reported, citing an internal email. AWS is moving towards self-serve digital training and training run by third parties.
“We do not take these decisions lightly, and I know change can be difficult,” Matt Garman, AWS senior vice president, wrote in the memo obtained by the news outlet. “We operate in an incredibly fast-moving industry, and it is important that we stay agile as an organization.”
An Amazon Web Services spokesperson confirmed the cuts to Seeking Alpha, noting they will be in a “few targeted areas” as it looks to focus on “key strategic areas that we believe will deliver maximum impact.”
The spokesperson added AWS is hiring for priorities in other areas and that internal opportunities are possibilities for some of the employees whose roles are impacted.
Employees affected by the layoffs in the U.S. will get their pay and benefits for the next 60 days and will be eligible for outplacement job search support, access to transitional health benefits, and a severance payment.
Amazon is following local rules and regulations in other countries where applicable.
Shares rose 0.8% in mid-day trading on Wednesday.
The job cuts in the physical stores technology team come after the company shelved its “Just Walk Out” technology at some of its grocery stores.
“We’ve heard from customers that while they enjoyed the benefit of skipping the checkout line with Just Walk Out, they also wanted the ability to easily find nearby products and deals, view their receipt as they shop, and know how much money they saved while shopping throughout the store,” a different company spokesperson told Seeking Alpha in response to the move.
Amazon Fresh stores will replace the grab-and-go technology with Dash Carts, which will let shoppers track their spending by scanning items as they go, while still allowing them to skip checkout lines. They can still go for self-checkout lanes or can check out with cashiers.
Out of the 44 Amazon Fresh stores in the U.S., 27 use ‘Just Walk Out,’ which relies on cameras and shelf sensors.
Amazon has made several cuts to its headcount in 2024 so far, including in its healthcare and media divisions, including its Twitch streaming service. Last year the company cut jobs at Audible, Prime Video, Twitch, and Buy with Prime divisions with job cuts between 2022 and 2023 amounting to roughly 27,000.
(This story has been updated to include a comment from Amazon.)