Amazon US to axe 58 jobs from Createspace

Amazon US is reportedly cutting staff from the North Charleston office of Createspace, its print self-publishing platform, this summer.

According to local newspaper the Post and Courier, the e-commerce company's self-publishing service is laying off 58 employees and closing its editing, marketing and design division. The news comes a year after the retailer moved its book-printing factory out of North Charleston.

The redundancies will mostly affect customer service positions, according to the report, but Createspace will continue to print books for authors with ambitions to sell their work without a publisher.

According to a letter sent to the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce on 11th January, the subsidiary is cutting 58 jobs in North Charleston with redundancies beginning in March and the editing, marketing and design division closing in July.

This marks the second round of job cuts Amazon has made in the Charleston area in as many years, according to the news report. In 2017 the company moved its on-demand book printing warehouse — and about 150 jobs — from North Charleston to its distribution centre in West Columbia. The employees affected were reportedly given the chance to work at another Amazon location or take severance. 

An Amazon spokesperson told the Post and Courier: "After a thorough review of our service offerings, we've made the decision to discontinue Createspace's paid professional editing, design and marketing services.

"We will work closely with impacted employees through this transition to help them find new roles within the company or assist them with pursuing opportunities outside the company."

Createspace, which makes books, CDs and DVDs on demand, was initially known as BookSurge, a startup that Amazon bought. It has been running in the US since 2007 and expanded into Europe in 2012.