Latest Amazon Job Cuts Might Worsen LA Market Woes
Hundreds of layoffs hit Prime Video and Amazon Studios
By Greg Cornfield January 10, 2024 2:55 pm
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Amazon (AMZN) is cutting hundreds more employees involved in its streaming service and studio division, The Information first reported Wednesday.
The layoffs were announced in an email from Mike Hopkins, who runs Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, that was shared with Commercial Observer.
“Our industry continues to evolve quickly and it’s important that we prioritize our investments for the long-term success of our business, while relentlessly focusing on what we know matters most to our customers,” the email read. “We’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact. As a result of these decisions, we will be eliminating several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organization.”
The cuts come after Amazon reportedly let go of approximately 27,000 employees in 2022 and 2023. Additionally, Bloomberg reported Amazon-run live streaming platform Twitch laid off about 500 employees, or about 35 percent of the staff in that division.
Amazon’s move extends a period of cuts following a time of unprecedented levels of studio and soundstage development and expansion in Greater Los Angeles, led largely by Amazon Studios’ landlord Hackman Capital Partners as well as the Blackstone-backed studio arm of Hudson Pacific Properties.
Media and tech companies that drive commercial real estate in L.A. continue to readjust after years of rapid growth, which included Amazon Studios’ $8.45 billion deal to acquire MGM when the company was in expansion mode to bolster its front in the so-called streaming wars. For example, Google is also spending big money to reduce its real estate size, and last week officially nixed plans to use the former Westside Pavilion, which for years was set to be a landmark office development by HPP.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
