AWS lays off its cloud employees

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — Cloud computing subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS) reportedly started laying off some of its employees as part of Amazon’s plan to trim 9,000 jobs across the company.
In a leaked email obtained by Business Insider, AWS CEO Adam Selipsky said that notification messages were sent to impacted employees from the United States (U.S.), Canada, and Costa Rica.
He added that employees from other regions would soon be laid off following local processes.
“It is a tough day across our organization. I fully realize the impact on every person and family who is affected. We are working hard to treat everyone impacted with respect and to provide a number of resources and touchpoints to aid in this transition.” Selipsky added.
To help with the transition, separation payments, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement supports will be given to affected employees.
Laid-off workers were also reportedly given the option to apply for other positions within AWS or elsewhere in Amazon.
While AWS did not indicate which units were impacted by the layoffs, anonymous sources said that the company’s “ProServe” professional services unit was being hit especially hard by the job cuts.