Amazon will lay off hundreds of employees in Alexa division, Indian team will also be affected
San Francisco/New Delhi (Uttam Hindu News): Amazon is laying off ‘hundreds of employees’ from its Alexa division, including in India, amid a renewed focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to Amazon’s email, the cuts will affect hundreds of employees who work for Alexa.
“The company is eliminating several hundred roles,” said Daniel Roush, vice president of Alexa and Fire TV. We are shifting some of our efforts to better align with our business priorities. We know that’s what matters most to customers. “This involves maximizing our resources and efforts focused on generic AI.”
These changes are prompting us to discontinue some of our initiatives. As a result of which several hundred rolls are getting exhausted. He said the company would hold talks with affected colleagues in India next week.
The report said that Amazon did not provide further details about the initiative being discontinued. The e-commerce giant had made layoffs in its Devices and Services division as part of company-wide cutbacks last year.
Daniel Roush said the investment in generative AI is “bringing us closer to our vision for an more intuitive, intelligent, and useful Alexa than ever before.”
The memos further said, “We will reach out to colleagues in the US and Canada who are impacted by these role cuts. “Notification emails will be sent soon, and we expect all notifications in the US and Canada to be complete this morning (Pacific Time).”
The company is providing affected employees a package that includes severance payments, transitional health insurance benefits, external job placement assistance and paid time off to conduct a job search.
Dave Limp, in charge of the Devices and Services division at Amazon, announced his departure from the company in August. Former Microsoft executive Panos Panay has replaced him. Former Microsoft executive Panos Panay replaced him.
