Amazon has reportedly fired 100 employees within its

Devices and Services division

. According to a report by Reuters, the company said the jobs represented a small number of the total for the unit and were part of its regular business review. The Devices and Services unit is responsible for developing popular hardware products such as the Echo smart speakers, Fire TV devices, and Ring security systems. To recall, Amazon also laid off some employees from Alexa-related jobs in 2023.

In a statement given to Reuters, Amazon spokesperson said, “As part of our ongoing work to make our teams and programs operate more efficiently, and to better align with our product roadmap, we’ve made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles.”While the full scope of the layoffs remains unclear, reports indicate that a variety of teams within the Devices and Services unit have been affected. This suggests a broad restructuring effort rather than targeting a specific product line.The layoffs come as Amazon continues to navigate a challenging economic environment. Like many other tech companies, Amazon has been focused on

cost-cutting measures

to improve efficiency and profitability. These measures have included workforce reductions across various divisions. The company has not released an official statement specifying the reasons for this particular round of layoffs.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees that building large teams and personal fiefdoms is not the path to advancement at the company, emphasizing instead that the e-commerce giant rewards those who accomplish more with fewer resources. Jassy's comments came during a recent all-hands meeting as Jassy continues his push to reduce management layers and bureaucracy across the organization.The CEO highlighted Amazon's commitment to operating with the agility of "the world's largest startup" despite its size. This initiative includes a recently completed effort to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by 15% across the company. Rather than massive layoffs, Amazon achieved this goal by combining teams and moving some managers into individual contributor roles.Jassy also stressed the importance of meritocracy over bureaucracy in Amazon's corporate culture. He mentioned reviewing more than a thousand employee emails sent to a dedicated "No Bureaucracy" alias, which has already resulted in 375 process improvements.