Herb Scribner KSL.com
In a move to reduce the number of management positions, Amazon will cut hundreds of corporate employees, according to The Seattle Times.
The pending layoffs come after Amazon started a hiring freeze last year, and as the company looks to expand to a second headquarters location, The Seattle Times reported.
Amazon expects the cuts to be in the low hundreds, which is “modest for a company that is now the second-largest U.S.-based corporate employer, and pales in comparison to adjustments in recent years that saw Microsoft and Boeing eliminate thousands of jobs in a single cutting drive,” according to The Seattle Times.
“As part of our annual planning process, we are making head count adjustments across the company — small reductions in a couple of places and aggressive hiring in many others,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC. “For affected employees, we work to find roles in the areas where we are hiring.”
Amazon will continue to hire in other areas of its company, like distribution.
Amazon set the benchmark for hiring over the past few years, according to CNBC, creating 130,000 jobs in 2017 alone. Amazon added another 90,000 jobs when it acquired Whole Foods.
Amazon’s layoffs come as the company seeks out its second headquarters. The company accepted 238 bids from 54 areas across North America for its new spot, according to CNN. Utah even submitted a proposal.
Amazon recently released a shortlist of candidates, and no Utah city was on the list. Some speculate Austin, Texas, will be the new host after seeing an Amazon commercial during the Super Bowl (more on that here), while others point to Atlanta as a top spot.
Amazon will also be looking to expand into the health care field, hoping to become a major supplier to hospitals in the near future, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company wants to supply products “from gauze to hip implants.”
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