Amazon Cuts Hundreds of Employees in Retail Division
Amazon is cutting several hundred employees in its Stores retail division. The optimization continues the layoff wave of 2025, when the company reduced its workforce by 14,000 positions.
Amazon is cutting several hundred employees in its Stores retail division. A company spokesperson revealed this to Retail Dive on October 8, 2026.
"We regularly review our team structure so we can move faster and innovate better for customers," the Amazon spokesperson said. "We have adjusted certain parts of the Stores business because we believe this structure will allow us to tackle priority tasks more effectively. As part of these changes, we made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of positions and intend to support affected employees during the transition period."
Which Divisions Does the Optimization Affect?
Amazon declined to specify which job categories were affected by the cuts. The Stores division includes the Amazon.com online retailer, the Whole Foods chain, and other group assets. The company describes the scale of the layoffs conservatively, using the phrase "a small number" of positions, while Retail Dive speaks of "several hundred" affected employees.
According to the publication, these are structural changes within the division rather than the closure of individual businesses. Amazon has not officially named the specific functions involved — assortment management, order logistics, or customer service.
Why Is Amazon Optimizing Its Workforce Again?
The current step continues a wave of layoffs that began in 2025. In October 2025, Amazon announced plans to reduce its corporate workforce by approximately 14,000 positions — one of the largest one-time cuts in the company's history. At the time, management explained the decision by the need to "stay agile" and respond faster to market changes.
The new wave of optimization coincided with continued growth in online retail but increasing pressure on the retail business's margins. Under these conditions, the company is betting on its fastest-growing segments.
What Is the Financial Picture of the Business?
Despite the workforce optimization, Amazon's online retail sales grew 15% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, reaching approximately $70.4 billion. The AWS cloud division increased revenue by 37% over the same period, to just over $42 billion. This segment remains the group's main source of operating profit.
The company is increasingly focusing on its cloud business and infrastructure services. In recent quarters, Amazon's public communications following its Prime Day sales events have become less prominent: the company prefers to disclose financial results in its quarterly reports rather than through separate press releases.
Why Is the Focus Shifting to AWS?
AWS's double-digit growth rates make the cloud segment a key driver of Amazon's value. Investors and analysts assess the group's prospects primarily by the dynamics of the cloud segment — the company's most profitable business line.
The reallocation of resources toward AWS and the advertising business is taking place against the backdrop of continued e-commerce growth. In the second quarter, the group's online sales posted double-digit growth, but their margins remain significantly lower than those of the cloud division. This difference is what determines the company's strategic priority.
What Does This Mean for Employees and the Market?
Amazon has not disclosed the exact number of layoffs or the timeline for completing the process. The company promises affected employees help during the transition period, including assistance finding employment both within and outside the group. The decision does not affect physical stores and warehouse operations, the company emphasized.
The layoffs have become another signal to the market of Amazon's rebalancing of priorities. The corporation is reallocating resources in favor of its most profitable segments — primarily cloud services and advertising.
Original: techtarget.com
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