Layoffs at Amazon Music: Numbers Unknown, Impact Unclear
(Reuters) – Amazon.com has begun cutting jobs at its music division, the company said on Wednesday, confirming the latest in a series of layoffs over the past year that have affected more than 27,000 of the retail giant’s employees.
Workers in Latin America, North America and Europe received notices of job layoffs on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. An Amazon spokeswoman confirmed the layoff when contacted by Reuters. He declined to say how many employees were affected.
“We have closely monitored our organizational needs and prioritized what is most important to customers and the long-term health of our business,” he said in a statement. “Some roles have been eliminated from the Amazon Music team. We continue to invest in Amazon Music.”
There have been no recent mass layoff announcements in Washington state, where Amazon is based, or in California or New York, the company’s biggest employee hubs, according to a review of worker adjustment and retraining posting sites.
The cuts come despite Amazon reporting third-quarter net income that far exceeded analysts’ estimates and projected revenue for the fourth quarter of the year roughly in line with expectations. The fourth quarter is Amazon’s most important because it includes holiday shopping.
Amazon has been quietly cutting jobs in the past month, including communications staff in studios, video and music.
Amazon Music, which also includes podcasts, competes with Spotify, Pandora, Alphabet’s Google and Apple in offering unlimited music streaming services for a fee. It raised the monthly subscription price by a dollar earlier this year to $10.99.
