Amazon to lay off hundreds of workers in its Prime Video, MGM Studios: Report

Amazon is reportedly laying off several hundreds of employees in its Prime Video and MGM Studios.

Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of the division, announced the cuts in an email on Wednesday, 10 January, saying that the reason for the reduction is to "reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact", reports TechCrunch.

The company has also started to notify the affected workers in the US and will inform most other regions by the end of this week.

Affected employees are provided with packages that include separation payments, transitional benefits, and external career transition support, the report mentioned.

"Our prioritisation of initiatives that we know will move the needle, along with our continued investments in programming, marketing and product, positions our business for an even stronger future," Hopkins said.

Meanwhile, Amazon-owned live game streaming platform Twitch is reportedly laying off 35 per cent of its workforce, or about 500 employees, this week. Twitch laid off dozens of employees last year, and has shut down its service in South Korea due to "prohibitively expensive" costs.

According to a Bloomberg report, the fresh job cuts, "which could be announced as soon as Wednesday", come amid concerns over losses at Twitch.