Amazon To Lay Off 800-1,000 Employees In India

As part of a global retrenchment exercise, ecommerce major Amazon may reportedly lay off 800 to 1,000 corporate employees in India.

A source told Economic Times that the layoffs will impact employees across departments, including finance, marketing, human resources and technology. Another source reportedly added that the retrenchments will primarily impact jobs reporting to Amazon’s global teams.

As per the report, the number of layoffs could likely go up as the ecommerce major increasingly deploys artificial intelligence (AI) for cost savings, automation and streamlining efficiency.

In response to Inc42’s queries on the matter, an Amazon India spokesperson referred to a note from Amazon’s senior vice-president of people experience and technology, Beth Galetti. 

In the post, Galetti announced that the company would axe nearly 14,000 corporate job roles globally. She also hinted at more layoffs in the coming year. 

“Looking ahead to 2026,… we expect to continue hiring in key strategic areas while also finding additional places (where we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realise efficiency gains,” added Galetti in a post. 

This is not the first time that the US-based ecommerce company has laid off employees in India. In 2023, the company is said to have fired around 1,000 employees in India as part of its global layoffs. The ecommerce major had also fired around 60 employees from its India team back in 2018.

The latest layoffs are part of the company’s bid to reign in costs and curb cash burn. Earlier this year, the company began relocating its India head office in Bengaluru to a new site that costs nearly a third of its current rent. The company has also been working to fix its unit economics.

The company managed to cut losses across all its five business units despite muted growth across its revenue streams. These entities include marketplace unit Amazon Seller Services, logistics subsidiary Amazon Transport Services, B2B wholesale marketplace Amazon Wholesale India Services, retail trade arm Amazon Retail India and fintech arm Amazon Pay. 

Despite the reducing losses, the company has been burning cash due to its foray into quick commerce earlier this year. After piloting its quick commerce offering ‘Now’ in Bengaluru, the company has now expanded the offering across other metropolitan cities. The company has set a target of operating 300 dark stores across the country by December-end.