Amazon will lay off several hundred employees from its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios streaming and production businesses. The move comes amid extensive staff cuts that companies have made over the past two years, and which are expected to continue throughout 2024.
The online retail giant cut more than 27,000 jobs last year, following a wave of layoffs across the U.S. tech sector after massive hiring during the pandemic.
“We have identified opportunities to reduce or halt investments in certain areas as we increase investments and focus on content and initiatives that deliver the greatest impact,” said Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios.
The company has spent significant resources in recent years to strengthen its media business, such as the $8.5 billion deal for MGM and the $465 million deal for the first season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” on Prime Video.
Amazon is also launching an ad-free subscription tier for Prime Video in some markets, similar to rivals Netflix and Walt Disney. The recent wave of layoffs has also affected other divisions of Amazon, such as the one dedicated to the voice assistant Alexa, and the streaming service Twitch, which plans to lay off 500 employees, about 35% of its workforce.