Amazon has confirmed that it is laying off approximately 100 employees from its devices and services division, marking yet another chapter in its ongoing restructuring strategy. The affected department spans a wide range of operations including its voice assistant Alexa, Echo smart devices, Ring video doorbells, and autonomous vehicle company Zoox. This latest decision is part of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s ongoing campaign to streamline operations and trim costs across the board.

The layoffs were first reported by Reuters and later confirmed by Amazon spokesperson Kristy Schmidt, who stated: “As part of our ongoing work to make our teams and programs operate more efficiently, and to better align with our product roadmap, we’ve made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles.” The company has not revealed which specific teams or regions bore the brunt of these layoffs.

These job cuts follow years of workforce reductions at Amazon, especially in the aftermath of its pandemic-fuelled hiring spree. Since 2022, Amazon has laid off more than 27,000 employees across multiple business functions. Although this year’s job reductions are on a smaller scale, they signal that cost-cutting efforts are far from over.

The devices and services division is one of Amazon’s most ambitious yet cost-intensive arms, housing both mature and experimental technologies. While Alexa and Echo are widely adopted products, Zoox—a subsidiary focused on developing autonomous robotaxis—remains a work in progress. As Amazon sharpens its focus on profitable growth, the current layoffs suggest a recalibration of priorities and resources.

Although the company confirmed continued hiring in some areas within the devices and services division, the latest cuts align with Amazon’s broader objective of reducing middle management and flattening organisational structures. Last year, Amazon embarked on a corporate overhaul to boost the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15%—a move aimed at improving speed, accountability, and cost-efficiency.

CEO Andy Jassy’s cost-cutting vision

Under Jassy’s leadership, Amazon has been aggressively revisiting how the company is structured and how efficiently it operates. This transformation includes workforce reductions, slower corporate hiring, project cancellations, and even closing down physical retail stores.

A notable element of Jassy’s restructuring plan has been his emphasis on eliminating unnecessary layers of management. This “flattening” of teams is intended to make Amazon more agile while aligning workforce size with company objectives. According to internal targets set last year, Amazon aimed to complete much of this streamlining by the first quarter of 2025.

Amazon’s move is not an isolated case. On Tuesday, Microsoft announced it would be laying off around 6,000 employees, citing a similar objective of reducing management layers and boosting operational efficiency. Other tech giants such as Meta, Google, and Salesforce have also followed suit over the last two years, reversing some of their over-hiring during the pandemic.

For Amazon, the recalibration also comes as the tech giant explores long-term innovations in artificial intelligence, smart homes, and robotics. While these ventures hold promise, they require leaner operations and a laser focus on execution and profitability.