Amazon employees 2007-2023
The combined number of full- and part-time employees of Amazon.com has increased significantly since 2017. Amazon’s headcount peaked in 2021 when the American multinational e-commerce company employed 1,608,000 full- and part-time employees, not counting external contractors. However, in 2023, the number dropped to 1,525,000.
E-commerce crunch
The workforce reduction of Amazon follows the mass layoffs hitting the entire e-commerce sector. With the full reopening of physical stores after the COVID-19 pandemic, online shopping demand decreased, leading online retailers to restructure their businesses, including personnel costs.
Diversifying business
With online retail sales growing slower due to recession and inflation, Amazon can still leverage other profitable revenue segments — from media subscriptions to server hosting and cloud services. On top of that, in 2023 Amazon monitored small enterprises operating in different fields and strategically invested in them, as disclosed startup acquisitions indicate.
