Hundreds of workers lose jobs at Amazon Prime Video, MGM Studios and Twitch

Online shopping giant Amazon is eliminating hundreds of positions across its video production and distribution divisions, as the company announced layoffs at Amazon Prime Video, its MGM Studios divisionand livestreaming subsidiary Twitch.

The latest cuts come as the company has eliminatedmore than 27,000 jobs over the past year, part of multiple rounds of technology industry layoffs in the United States following hiring booms during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Amazon had about 1.54 millionemployeesas of Dec. 31, 2022, according topublic filings.)

According to an internal staff note provided to CBC News, Prime Video and MGM Studios staff in the Americas will find out if they've lost their jobs on Wednesday, whileworkers in most other regions will beinformed by the end of the week.

Amazon did not immediately respond to questions about how many Canadian jobs could be affected by these cuts.

"We've identified opportunities to reduce or discontinueinvestments in certain areas while increasing our investment andfocus on content and product initiatives that deliver the mostimpact," Mike Hopkins, senior vice-president of Prime Video andAmazon MGM Studios, told employees in an internal note.

Streaming service Twitch also being cut

It's not the only batch of layoffs for Amazon, which reportedly cut some jobs at its Alexa voice assistantdivision in November.

The company's Twitch service is also set to lay off 500 employees, orabout 35 per centof its workforce, according to a blog postfrom Twitch CEO Dan Clancy.

The company has spent aggressively on its media business recently, including the $8.5 billion US deal forMGM and around $465 million US on the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweron Prime Video in 2022.