Amazon’s layoffs totaled nearly 2,200 in Washington state, more than half in key product and engineering roles.

Amazon is laying off 2,198 workers across Washington as part of the company’s latest workforce reductions, according to a new filing released Monday by the Department of Homeland Security.

A detailed list filed in Washington state shows that software development roles are the largest part of the layoffs, with engineering management, program management, and technical product roles also heavily impacted.

In all, more than half of the cuts affect Amazon’s core product and engineering organizations. The remaining positions include business intelligence, sales, marketing, infrastructure, QA, HR, design, and other support functions. Senior staff and principals are also affected.

Most of the cuts — more than 1,400 — affect workers in Seattle, with more than 600 in nearby Bellevue, where Amazon has been expanding its office space.

The cuts are part of Amazon’s company-wide layoffs announced last week that affect 16,000 workers worldwide. Combined with the 14,000 layoffs in October, it’s the largest layoff in the company’s history.

As part of the October cutbacks, Amazon laid off 2,303 workers in Washington state. Between these two layoffs, Amazon has laid off more than 4,500 company employees in Washington state in less than a year.

Software engineers were also the largest group of workers affected by the cuts in October. Corporate support and commercial jobs were heavily impacted in that round, which included engineering roles but also targeted legal, tax, and ad sales positions that were not prominent in the new list released Monday. October’s cuts also affected Amazon’s gaming division, and this latest round is more focused on the core technology organization.

The company has made several additional, smaller layoffs in recent years as it tries to streamline operations. In a letter to employees sent Wednesday, Amazon’s senior vice president of experience and technology Beth Galetti said the company is “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing leadership.”

Some job titles in recent Washington state filings are consistent with that goal, particularly in the company’s professional teams. The list includes a significant number of “Manager III” and “Senior Manager” roles within the software and product groups, suggesting that Amazon is adding layers of oversight, not just reducing the number of contributors.

Amazon noted in the filing that employees who secure internal transfers before their separation dates will not end up being laid off. The separation is scheduled to begin on April 28 and continue until the end of June, according to the filing.

Tech pullback in Seattle

Amazon employs approximately 50,000 workers in the Seattle region, which serves as its main headquarters. The company has also laid off 27,000 workers worldwide in 2022-2023.

The latest cuts come amid concerns about Seattle’s struggling economy as some companies cut headcount.

• GeekWire reported Monday that T-Mobile is laying off nearly 400 employees.
• Expedia and Meta laid off hundreds of workers last month.
• Microsoft laid off more than 3,200 workers in Washington state last year, part of a reduction that affects 15,000 people worldwide.

Many companies are scrambling to deal with the business “bloat” that is fueling the pandemic while spreading the economic uncertainty and impact from AI tools.

The Seattle area lost 12,900 jobs last year across all sectors — the first time the region has experienced a yearly job loss since 2009, according to the Puget Sound Regional Council.

Amazon implemented a five-day return-to-the-office policy for corporate employees last year — a move that drew backlash from some employees but a friendly reception from small businesses surrounding Amazon’s office buildings.

Jon Scholes, president of the Downtown Seattle Association, said in a statement last week that “staff turnover at this rate has negative consequences for the community.”

Widespread layoffs could affect Seattle’s real estate market, which continues to struggle with high vacancy rates.

Amazon also laid off about 400 workers in Washington state as part of its decision to close all Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores across the country. Those cuts are separate from corporate layoffs.