Why is Amazon Cutting jobs at Alexa?

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A shift in business priorities

US e-commerce giant Amazon announced it will cut several hundred jobs at Alexa, citing a shift in business priorities.

Layoffs done for more focus on AI

In an internal memo, Alexa's Vice President Daniel Rausch said the company was shifting some of its efforts to better align with its business priorities, which included "maximising our resources and efforts focused on generative AI."

Which countries have been affected?

Alexa employees in the US and Canada have been affected by the layoffs. "We will communicate with impacted colleagues in India next week, and are following local processes in other regions," the memo added.

'Alexa did not make this decision lightly'

In the memo, Alexa's Vice President Rausch also said, "...we did not make this decision lightly." He said the company will provide packages to leaving employees which include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support.