Amazon is laying off 200 staffers, the majority of them from the e-commerce firm’s fashion and fitness department, as part of an ongoing effort to streamline operations and improve efficiency, the company said.
The layoffs affect workers across multiple locations in the United States, including a group in San Diego.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the job eliminations and stated that the company is restructuring its North America Stores team to enhance efficiency and innovation.
“We’re always looking at our team structures to ensure we’re best set up to move fast as we innovate for customers,” the spokesperson told The Post.
“We’ve adjusted parts of our North America Stores team because we believe this structure will better enable us to deliver on our priorities. As part of these changes, we’ve made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles, and we’re committed to supporting affected employees through their transition.”
Amazon’s Fashion and Fitness group oversees the curation and marketing of fashion and athletic products, including apparel, footwear, accessories, and fitness equipment.
Employees in roles related to account management, merchandising and data engineering are expected to be affected.
Amazon’s Fashion and Fitness business, known internally in the company as F2, has 23 current job openings across Washington, New York, and Texas, with positions spanning software development, supply chain management, sales, and product management.
However, it remains unclear how many of these positions will be filled given the restructuring efforts.
Despite the layoffs, Amazon stated that the shuttering of its “Try Before You Buy” program — which allowed customers to test out apparel and footwear before purchasing — was not directly related to these job cuts. The program, launched in 2018, was discontinued earlier this month.
Over the past year, Amazon has implemented job reductions across multiple business units, including a significant workforce reduction at fulfillment centers last fall.
CEO Andy Jassy previously stated that Amazon had undergone hundreds of operational changes to improve efficiency within its fulfillment and delivery network.
