Amazon to axe 'hundreds of roles'

Amazon has reportedly revealed it will axe a “small” number of roles and has not ruled out cutting jobs in the UK.

The internet retailer is cutting several hundred jobs in Seattle and hundreds elsewhere as part of a rare layoff plan which appears to focus on its established consumer retail business, according to the Seattle Times. The UK could also suffer from the jobs cuts according to a company spokesperson.

The scaling back in Seattle comes after a hiring initiative that reportedly boosted the company’s head count in the US city to more than 40,000 people, from just 5,000 in 2010. The huge growth of the last two years has left some units over budget and some teams with too much staff for their work, according to reports. Lay-offs are believed to begin in the next few weeks.

Amazon has not ruled out that the UK business will be shielded from the cuts and an Amazon UK spokesperson told AOL there would be “small reductions” combined with “aggressive hiring”.

"As part of our annual planning process, we are making head count adjustments across the company - small reductions in a couple of places and aggressive hiring in many others," the spokesman said.

"For affected employees, we work to find roles in the areas where we are hiring."

Amazon UK unveiled its 600,000sq ft new headquarters in July last year features half an acre of public piazza and events space and 20,000 sq ft of retail, including cafés and restaurants offering alfresco dining.

The retailer has been contacted for a comment.