Amazon is said to plan to lay off thousands of employees

Amazon.com Inc is planning to lay off about 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs starting as soon as this week, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The cuts will focus on the e-commerce giant's devices unit, which houses voice-assistant Alexa, as well as its retail division and human resources, according to the report, which also said the total number of layoffs remains fluid.

The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. As of Dec. 31 last year, Amazon had about 1,608,000 full-time and part-time employees.

Amazon joins a bandwagon of U.S. companies making deep cuts to its employee base to brace for a potential economic downturn.

Last week, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms (META.O) said it would cut more than 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce, to rein in costs.