Amazon slashing some 16,000 jobs in its latest layoff round

Amazon is cutting about 16,000 jobs in the latest round of mass layoffs for the tech industry.

Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at the ecommerce giant, made the announcement Wednesday in a blog post of a message sent to company employees.

The cuts follow a round of job cuts in October, when Amazon laid off 14,000 workers.

“Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan,” Galetti said. “But just as we always have, every team will continue to evaluate the ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate. That’s never been more important than it is today in a world that’s changing faster than ever.”

Galetti said that, “While many teams finalized …organizational changes in October, other teams did not complete that work until now.”

In addition, she noted that, “While we’re making these changes, we’ll also continue hiring and investing in strategic areas and functions that are critical to our future. We’re still in the early stages of building every one of our businesses and there’s significant opportunity ahead.”

Galetti said U.S.-based staff would be given 90 days to look for a new role internally before being offered severance pay, outplacement services and health insurance benefits.

On Tuesday, Amazon said it’s closing its Fresh grocery and cashierless Go convenience stores as it backtracks on its foray into brick-and-mortar retail.  

— This is a developing story. Check back for updates.