Amazon Deepens Tech-sector Gloom with Another 9,000 Layoffs

The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Boves, France, November 5, 2019. (Reuters)
The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Boves, France, November 5, 2019. (Reuters)
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Amazon Deepens Tech-sector Gloom with Another 9,000 Layoffs

The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Boves, France, November 5, 2019. (Reuters)
The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Boves, France, November 5, 2019. (Reuters)

Amazon.com Inc on Monday said it would axe another 9,000 roles, piling on to a wave of layoffs that has swept the technology sector as an uncertain economy forces companies to get leaner.

In a remarkable turn for a company that has long touted its job creation, Amazon will have eliminated 27,000 positions in recent months, or 9% of its roughly 300,000-strong corporate workforce.

The latest cuts focus on Amazon's highly-profitable cloud and advertising divisions, once seen as untouchable until economic concerns led business customers to scrutinize their spending.

The layoffs will affect Amazon's streaming unit Twitch as well. Dan Clancy, who was named as CEO of Twitch last week, said the platform will lay off more than 400 employees.

Amazon aims to finalize whom it will terminate in the new round of job cuts by April.

The company's stock fell 1.8%.

The decision follows a near-endless drumbeat of layoff news in the technology sector that has seen some of the world's most valuable corporations, among them Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc, sever ties with staggering numbers of employees they once courted in droves.

"I don't think this means much for other companies, except that all will be more careful before allowing their headcount to balloon in the future," Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said.

In what now seems a harbinger, Facebook's parent Meta Platforms Inc said last week it would cut 10,000 jobs this year, kicking off a second round of layoffs for the sector following its elimination of more than 11,000 roles in 2022.

In a note to staff that Amazon posted online, its CEO Andy Jassy said the decision stemmed from an ongoing analysis of priorities and uncertainty about the economy.

"Some may ask why we didn't announce these role reductions with the ones we announced a couple months ago," he wrote. "The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall."

"Given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount."

Amazon last month said operating profit may continue to slump in the current quarter, hit by the financial impact of consumers and cloud customers clamping down on spending.

The Athena Coalition, a labor and activist group that is critical of Amazon, said in a statement: "None of these layoffs have to happen. Jassy is choosing to make them happen to pad Amazon's bottom line."

The company has scaled back or shut down entire services like its virtual primary care offering for employers in recent months.



Nintendo Offers New Switch 2 Details ahead of June 5 Launch

People stand in front of Nintendo's logo in Tokyo, Japan January 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
People stand in front of Nintendo's logo in Tokyo, Japan January 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
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Nintendo Offers New Switch 2 Details ahead of June 5 Launch

People stand in front of Nintendo's logo in Tokyo, Japan January 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
People stand in front of Nintendo's logo in Tokyo, Japan January 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

Nintendo has announced a June 5 launch date for its latest gaming console, the Switch 2, which will introduce interactive chat and screenshare functions to connect gamers.

At its 60-minute Nintendo Direct presentation, the company revealed a more vibrant display on the Switch 2, a larger screen and several games that will launch with the console.

Central to its updated system is a new “C” button on its Joy-Con controller, which will launch a new “GameChat” feature that allows you to “communicate with friends and family while playing a game,” and let you share your game screen with other players. A built-in microphone will also allow you to chat with other gamers, The AP reported.

Perhaps the most contemporary function yet for the Switch 2 is the ability to use the Joy-Con controllers like a computer mouse. The developer displayed multiple ways to use the new function in games, such as angling a club in a golf game.

Wednesday's presentation led off with an extended look at a new Mario Kart game that saw in-game characters doing flips, tricks and rail grinds. The developer also unveiled a new James Bond game, dubbed Project 007, revisiting a classic Nintendo 64 console hit revered by many first-person shooter game fans.

The new console will be backwards compatible — able to play physical and digital Switch games — but users will need to purchase a new type of SD memory card for the Switch 2. The presentation revealed that normal SD cards will not be compatible with the system, but data from the original Switch can be transferred to the new console.

Nintendo plans to host “Switch 2 Experience” events in several countries, where gamers can get a hands-on experience with the new system. Those events are planned for cities such as Los Angeles, New York, London and Paris beginning this month.