Amazon lays off 250 employees; launches Alexa-powered smart devices:Message to engineers: Adopt AI or risk being left behind

Tech and e-commerce company Amazon has laid off around 250 employees from its Devices and Services unit. According to a Reuters report, the company has confirmed the layoffs. The decision comes at a time when the company has recently launched new Kindle e-readers, tablets and five new Alexa-powered smart devices. Software development team members have been affected the most among those laid off. HR email sent on Wednesday morning, informing employees that access would be revoked According to reports, employees were informed of the layoffs via email and text messages on the morning of 28 October. The email was sent by Cherie Robinson, vice-president of HR for the Devices and Services unit. The email said that the company had reviewed its structure, following which it had to take the decision to eliminate the roles. In a statement, a company spokesperson said that the company had taken the difficult decision to eliminate some positions. The move was aimed at making the company’s operations more efficient and aligning them with its product roadmap. 16,000 employees laid off in January this year Amazon has witnessed large-scale layoffs over the past year. Earlier, in January this year, the company laid off 16,000 employees, while another 14,000 people were made redundant in October last year. Decision taken on the day of the launch of five new Alexa devices Notably, the decision to cut jobs in the devices division came on the same day that Amazon launched its five new Alexa-powered smart devices on the market. The company is introducing its voice assistant in a new avatar amid stiff competition from rivals such as Apple and OpenAI. Range of new products launched: Message to engineers: Adopt AI or risk being left behind Just one day before the news of layoffs emerged, Amazon sent an internal message to its software engineers. In the message, titled ‘The Role of Developers in the Age of AI’, the company’s engineering leaders made it clear that it no longer matters which tool you use; what matters most is the result. The message said, “We all have to embrace this change and make time to learn, or we risk being left behind. The impact of AI on software engineering has only just begun. Whatever the best practices are in the future, one thing is certain: AI will remain at the centre of software engineering.”