"Amazon Cut 30,000, and Now This"... Netflix Also Pushing for 800 Layoffs

News of consecutive layoffs has emerged from major U.S. corporations, including e-commerce giant Amazon and online video streaming (OTT) company Netflix.

According to the Los Angeles Times and Business Insider on the 10th (local time), Amazon has carried out layoffs centered around its Stores division, which manages its e-commerce website.

The scale is under 1,000 employees, with staff in customer service, engineering, and marketplace support units receiving layoff notices across the United States as well as countries such as India and the United Kingdom.

Amazon cut 30,000 jobs between late last year and early this year, and has continued such small-scale workforce reductions since then.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos explained that Amazon had overhired during the pandemic, making ongoing layoffs inevitable.

He stated, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, people stayed home and increased their orders, which was a wonderful yet high-pressure time for us," adding, "We achieved numerous accomplishments, but as a result, we ended up expanding our workforce too much."

A heavy focus on artificial intelligence (AI) investments is also cited as a factor.

Amazon is pouring efforts into its AI business and plans to invest 220 billion dollars (approx. 295.6 trillion won) in data centers and related infrastructure.

Reports have also emerged that Netflix is planning large-scale layoffs.

Citing sources, the LA Times reported that Netflix plans to lay off 800 employees, accounting for 5 percent of its total workforce.

This is expected to be the largest scale of layoffs since 2022.

Although Netflix has increased its content investment costs, its viewing hours in the first half of this year grew by a mere 2 percent compared to the same period last year.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos also confessed at a recent Bloomberg Screentime event, "We are not growing as fast as we would like."

Its gaming business division is also undergoing reorganization.

Netflix suspended operations at the game studio Night School Studio last August and also plans to close MoonRift Entertainment, a game studio located in Helsinki, Finland.


(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.