Amazon is reportedly preparing to cut up to 14,000 jobs in Washington state as part of a broader workforce reduction, according to Reuters.
The announcement follows a previous layoff round last year, which saw thousands of positions cut from the company.
Washington State’s Employment Security Department listed Amazon on its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification table for potential job cuts. The table indicates that more than 2,000 positions could be cut in our region this month. Coming up in February, nearly a hundred more positions are listed for layoffs.
This could impact employees across various divisions, including Amazon Web Services, retail segments, and Prime Video. Local business owners anticipate a ripple effect on their operations as many workers frequent their establishments.
Crystal Jones, a local smoothie shop customer and an employee at another company in Bellevue, expressed concern about the cuts, stating her concern was for tech workers who could soon find themselves out of a job.
“I think it would be better to have the skills and not use them, than to not have the skills and need them,” said Jones.
She admitted the job market is tough right now, and while she is working at the moment, she admitted that she has applied to around 150 openings, with little response.
Mary Craig works at a smoothie shop near an Amazon tower in Bellevue that houses corporate employees. She shared concerns that some of her customers could soon be gone.
“I’m pretty sure I know some of them who are getting laid off,” she added.
She noted that losing these customers would be detrimental to her and probably other businesses in the area that serve Amazon employees. Amazon has not yet commented officially on these layoffs, and the full impact of this reduction in workforce in the Seattle area is still being assessed.
Spokesperson Brad Glasser responded to KIRO 7, saying simply, “We don’t have anything to share about role eliminations in our corporate workforce. We’ll be sure to reach out if that changes.”