Amazon discloses fresh wave of Bay Area job cuts as tech layoffs worsen

SUNNYVALE — Amazon has disclosed plans to chop hundreds more Bay Area jobs in what would be a fresh wave of cutbacks, a forbidding sign that tech layoffs might have yet to run their course in this region.

The e-commerce behemoth is eyeing more than 200 layoffs, consisting of more job cuts that are expected to top 100 in both Sunnyvale and San Francisco, Amazon revealed in official WARN notices the company sent to the state Employment Development Department.

All told, Amazon has decided to chop 261 jobs in the Bay Area, the WARN letters, dated Jan. 18, show.

The tech titan is cutting 157 jobs at six Sunnyvale sites and is eliminating 104 jobs at four San Francisco locations, according to the notifications Amazon sent to the EDD.

The employment cutbacks were scheduled to be effective starting on March 19, 2023, Amazon stated in the WARN letter.

“Employee separations resulting from this action are expected to be permanent,” Amazon wrote in the WARN notice. “The affected employees are not represented by a union or any other collective bargaining representative. Amazon and its affiliates do not allow separated employees to displace any other employee based on seniority or any other factor.”

This layoff disclosure marks the second round of significant Bay Area job cuts that Amazon has revealed since Oct. 1 of 2022.

Amazon had previously decided to lay off 263 workers at several Sunnyvale sites, according to a letter dated Nov. 15, 2022. Those prior job cuts were slated to be effective starting on Jan. 17 of this year.

The latest cutbacks are also a disquieting indicator that tech and biotech companies might orchestrate multiple surges of layoffs.

In recent days, both chipmaking titan Intel and biotech firm Zymergen revealed a second round of layoffs that came weeks after their prior disclosures of separate job cuts.

Adding to the concern that tech layoffs could continue over a period of months — or longer — in 2023: Google owner Alphabet notified workers that it had decided to reduce staffing levels by about 6%.

Google’s cutbacks equated to a loss of 12,000 worldwide workers, a reduction that might portend a loss of hundreds or even thousands of positions in the Bay Area.

Amazon recently announced that it would eliminate 18,000 jobs worldwide. Microsoft said it was cutting 10,000 workers globally. Hewlett-Packard said it planned to chop 4,000 to 6,000 jobs over the next three years.