Amazon is laying off 2,198 employees across Washington as part of the company’s latest corporate workforce reduction, according to a new filing released Monday by the state Employment Security Department.
A detailed list included with the Washington state filing shows that software development roles account for the largest share of the layoffs, with engineering management, program management, and technical product roles also hit hard.
In total, more than half of the cuts impact Amazon’s core product and engineering organizations. The remaining positions span business intelligence, sales, marketing, infrastructure, QA, HR, design, and other support functions. Senior- and principal-level employees were also affected.
A majority of the cuts — more than 1,400 — impact workers in Seattle, with more than 600 in nearby Bellevue, where Amazon has been expanding its office footprint.
The cuts are part of Amazon’s company-wide layoffs announced last week that impact 16,000 corporate employees globally. Combined with a 14,000-worker layoff in October, it’s the largest corporate workforce reduction in the company’s history.
As part of the October cuts, Amazon laid off 2,303 employees in Washington state. Between the two layoffs, Amazon has laid off more than 4,500 corporate workers in Washington state in less than a year.
The cuts in October hit corporate support and commercial functions in Washington state more heavily. That round included engineering roles but also targeted legal, tax, and ad sales positions that are largely absent from the new list released Monday. The October cuts also hit Amazon’s gaming division, while this latest round is focused more squarely on the core technology organization.
The company has made several smaller workforce reductions in recent years as it seeks to streamline operations. In a memo to employees sent Wednesday, Amazon senior vice president of people experience and technology Beth Galetti said the company is “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.”
The specific job titles in the latest Washington state filing align with Amazon’s stated goal of reducing hierarchy and bureaucracy in the company’s technical teams. The list includes a significant number of “Manager III” and “Senior Manager” roles within software and product teams, suggesting Amazon is removing layers of oversight, not just reducing individual contributor headcount.
Amazon noted in the filing that employees who secure internal transfers before their separation dates will not ultimately be laid off. Separations are scheduled to begin April 28 and continue through late June, according to the filing.
Tech pullback in Seattle
Amazon employs roughly 50,000 corporate workers in the Seattle region, which serves as its primary headquarters. The company also laid off 27,000 workers globally in 2022-2023.
The latest cuts come amid concerns about Seattle’s tech-heavy economy as other companies trim headcount.
- GeekWire reported Monday that T-Mobile is laying off nearly 400 workers.
- Expedia and Meta laid off hundreds of workers last month.
- Microsoft laid off more than 3,200 employees in Washington state last year, part of broader cuts that impacted 15,000 people globally.
Many corporations are slashing headcount to address pandemic-fueled corporate “bloat” while juggling economic uncertainty and impact from AI tools.
The Seattle area lost 12,900 jobs last year across all sectors — the first time the region has experienced an annual decrease of jobs since 2009, according to The Puget Sound Regional Council.
Amazon implemented a five-day return-to-office policy for corporate employees last year — a move that drew pushback from some workers but helps generate foot traffic for small businesses surrounding Amazon’s office buildings.
Jon Scholes, president of the Downtown Seattle Association, said in a statement last week that a “workforce change of this scale has ripple effects on the community.”
The broader layoffs may also impact Seattle’s commercial real estate market, which continues to struggle with record-high vacancy rates.
Amazon is also laying off about 400 workers in Washington state as part of its decision to close all Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores nationwide. Those cuts are separate from the corporate layoffs.
