Amazon is laying off hundreds of employees at its studio division as well as its subsidiary Twitch to reduce costs. Twitch, a video streaming platform, will cut over 500 roles, or 35 percent of its work force. Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios will eliminate hundreds of jobs as well. Since late 2022, Amazon has laid off 27,000 workers. Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, wrote in the email that the company would shift its investments to focus on the highest-impact products. Amazon’s cuts signal a concerning trend for tech companies, which laid off tens of thousands of employees last year. Xerox said it would cut 15 percent of its 23,000-person staff, and Unity Software said it would cut 1,800 roles, or 25 percent of its work force. Amazon considers streaming an important part of its package of Prime offerings. “It also acquired Twitch, which is popular with gamers who stream their online video play. Last year, the company laid off 400 people as part of overall cuts at Amazon, and in December Twitch announced that it would shut down its services in South Korea by the end of February, citing “prohibitively expensive” costs. Twitch’s chief executive, Dan Clancy, wrote in the blog post. He also added that the decision “is necessary to ensure that we can continue to serve our streamers sustainably without impacting their ability to support their careers on Twitch.”
