Exclusive-Amazon trims jobs in devices and services unit

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By Greg Bensinger

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Amazon on Wednesday cut about 100 jobs in its devices and services unit, the group overseeing development of such diverse products as the Kindle, Echo speakers, Alexa voice assistant and Zoox self-driving cars. 

Amazon confirmed the cuts following an inquiry from Reuters on Wednesday. 

The company said the jobs represented a small number of the total for the unit and were part of its regular business review. A spokesperson declined to provide additional details about which divisions within devices and services were impacted.

“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,” said the spokesperson. 

Amazon trimmed some Alexa-related jobs in 2023 and has been conducting small cuts to various groups in recent months, including its Wondery podcast, stores and communications units. The Seattle retailer added about 4,000 jobs from last year’s fourth quarter to this year’s first, according to its earnings release earlier this month.

The cost-saving action comes nearly three months after Amazon introduced its first major overhaul of Alexa in a decade, infusing it with generative artificial intelligence software so that it can act more conversationally and take actions for users, among other features.

CEO Andy Jassy is trying to reduce what he described as excessive bureaucracy at the company, including a plan to reduce the number of managers.

Amazon shares closed the day down less than 1% to $210.25.  

(Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)