Washington is presently going through a flurry of layoffs, hitting some cities more durable than others. When Amazon introduced on January 28 that it could be decreasing 16,000 positionsthroughout the group, the larger query was what number of can be native?
Now, within the first WARN (Employee Adjustment and Retraining Notification) discover because the official announcement, Amazon has notified that it’s shedding 2,198 staff in Washington state. The vast majority of which, roughly 1,400, are in Seattle, the house of this e-commerce big’s headquarters.
Bellevue is subsequent by way of the variety of affected staff, with over 600, in response to the discover. Moreover, 116 cuts affected distant staff residing in Washington state.
The job title listing suggests a transparent sample: a majority of those positions are company tech-related, significantly engineering and product administration roles, with some supervisor and senior supervisor roles blended in. This aligns with Amazon’s description of those roles being an organizational reset relatively than a shutdown of a specific website.
Based on the submitting, the anticipated separations might be efficient on the next dates:
- April 28, 2026
- Could 26, 2026
- Could 28, 2026
- June 29, 2026
The affected staff have been given 90 days’ discover previous to their scheduled layoff, and the cuts might be everlasting. Nevertheless, if an worker is transferred internally earlier than these dates, their separation might be void.
Washington’s unemployment woes
The submitting comes as Washington’s unemployment image turns extra uneven. Washington is already coping with elevated unemployment charges. The December report exhibits an unemployment price of 4.7%, up from 4.6% in November. The October price was not calculated as a result of unavailable knowledge ensuing from the prolonged authorities shutdown.
Within the Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma area, the unemployment price rose sharply to 4.8% (preliminary) in December 2025, in comparison with 4.1% in December 2024. Latest losses have been concentrated in skilled and enterprise providers and manufacturing, whereas sectors resembling info and well being providers posted positive aspects, underscoring an uneven jobs image within the state.
Amazon will not be the one large tech firm shedding staff, elevating issues concerning the state of Washington’s economic system. Meta Platforms, mum or dad of Fb and Instagram, just lately laid off 331 staff, together with 89 in Bellevue, and 97 affected distant staff residing within the state. The impacted staff might be separated from the corporate on March 20, 2026.
Extra just lately, T-Cellular additionally introduced 493 cuts in varied components of Washington, the vast majority of which had been in Bellevue.
Amazon’s restructuring efforts equal job cuts
The 16,000 job cuts are the second in a sequence of layoffs by the corporate, aimed to “strengthen the organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy,” as famous by Beth Galetti, Senior VP of Folks Expertise and Expertise at Amazon, in a letter shared with staff.
When Amazon laid off round 14,000 staff in October 2025, CEO Andy Jassy famous within the firm’s earnings name that the choice was “not really financially driven, and it’s not even really AI-driven, not right now, at least.” Opposite to the reviews and common perception that AI is taking up jobs.
Extra Layoffs:
- Goldman Sachs makes unemployment prediction
- 179-year-old tobacco big sends blunt message to staff
- 118-year-old delivery big simply delivered staff a harsh message
Jassy stated that usually with a enterprise construction like Amazon’s, “you end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers.” Galetti’s current notice on the 16,000 layoffs echoed an identical rationale, suggesting an organizational reset.
The information comes two days earlier than the retailer is ready to announce its This autumn earnings on Feb 5 at 5 pm ET, that’s, after market shut. Within the wake of the information, the corporate’s inventory was down greater than 1.8% on Tuesday, including to its 2.8% decline this previous week.
This earnings report can be essential as traders and analysts might be on the lookout for a rise in capital expenditures and the corporate’s outlook in direction of AI enlargement.
BMO Capital analyst Brian Pitz is AWS’s progress acceleration, conserving an Outperform ranking and $304 worth goal forward of the earnings. However Pitz additionally flagged capability constraints that might cap near-term upside for AWS and cautioned of accelerating competitors. On the actual aspect, Pitz notes that whereas gross sales tendencies are wholesome, client confidence is weakening. Nevertheless, same-day supply buildings may very well be a possible money circulate choice, as they require much less capital than conventional achievement facilities. Supply: TheFly.
UBS can be bullish, elevating its worth goal to $311 from $310, a slight enhance, whereas conserving a Purchase ranking. Nevertheless it cites the valuation assumptions on greater AWS income and capex expectations. The agency additionally raised combination CapEx estimates for Q425-Q427 to $344B, pushed by AWS’s plans to double capability by 2027.
Associated: Amazon delivers extra unhealthy information for staff earlier than earnings
