During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, technology companies in particular experienced unprecedented demand. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) witnessed a striking inflow of business across both of its core segments: e-commerce and cloud computing. Consumers were ordering household staples, office supplies, and more, while corporations were buying up more cloud instances from Amazon Web Services (AWS).

As a result, Amazon's top-line revenue was surging and its profitability and cash-flow profile were flourishing. In an effort to keep up with demand, Amazon hired loads more employees and invested in its fulfillment centers. However, as pandemic concerns waned and some workers returned to the office, Amazon began to see its business slow down.

At the end of 2022, the company followed its big tech cohorts by announcing layoffs. About a week ago, Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy, announced that the company is doubling down on these cost reduction initiatives and plans to lay off an additional 9,000 employees.      

Continue reading

Source Fool.com