Vendor layoffs: Here are all the companies making cuts this week

AWS, Intel and Kaseya are all involved in a triple-whammy of layoffs this week

Tech vendors AWS, Intel, and Kaseya are making significant workforce reductions across various departments, including sales, marketing, and technology roles.

As the industry grapples with shifting demands and strategic realignments, the vendors claim to be streamlining operations and redirect resources toward core priorities.

Here's the low-down this week's job cuts.

Amazon Web Services

AWS s laying off hundreds of employees across its sales, marketing, global services, and physical stores technology teams.

The layoffs are said to streamline certain business units and redirect efforts towards key strategic areas.

AWS confirmed to CRN US that the job cuts would primarily impact training, certification, and sales personnel.

The company stated that these reductions are necessary to continue focusing on high-impact strategic priorities.

AWS plans to shift towards digital self-service training and leveraging external training partners, moving away from instructor-led training within the company.

In addition to the sales and training teams, AWS is also laying off hundreds of developers from its physical stores technology team.

This decision aligns with Amazon's strategic shift in utilising certain applications across its own retail stores and those of third-party retailers.

The layoffs relate to Amazon's move away from its "Just Walk Out" technology in Amazon Fresh grocery stores.

Despite these layoffs, AWS claimed it is still committed to hiring in core areas of its business.

"While we are eliminating roles in parts of these teams, we're hiring for priorities in other areas," an AWS spokesperson told CRN.

"We are continuing to hire and grow, especially in core areas of our business. Right now, for example, there are thousands of jobs posted across AWS."

Intel

Intel also confirmed this week it has initiated a new round of layoffs affecting an unspecified number of employees in its sales and marketing group.

The chipmaker said the job cuts as part of a reorganisation but did not provide further details.

An Intel spokesperson stated that the objective is to continue delivering on the company's strategy and drive outcomes for customers.

The representative assured that Intel remains confident in its future and committed to supporting all employees throughout this process, treating those impacted with dignity and respect.

Jason Kimrey, VP of Intel's North America commercial and partner sales organisation, emphasised that partners "remain a critical part of Intel's transformation and we will continue to invest and grow with them in the future."

This is the latest round of layoffs since CEO Pat Gelsinger announced plans in October 2022 to cut spending by up to $10bn through 2025 due to a significant demand slowdown.

Intel has not disclosed the total number of employees laid off but has provided figures for individual rounds impacting 50+ employees in California, as required by state law.

The layoffs coincided with Intel outlining a new financial reporting structure separating its product design from chip manufacturing operations.

The latter, now called Intel Foundry, suffered a $7bn operating loss in 2022 but aims to achieve profitability and target margins by 2030 as an independent contract manufacturer competing with TSMC and Samsung.

Kaseya

Kaseya also made significant cuts to its sales team this week, described by the company as "performance-based terminations" rather than layoffs.

The cut positions will be "backfilled", according to Xavier Gonzalez, Kaseya's chief communications officer.

"There were no layoffs," he said. "We had performance-based terminations, and all those roles will be backfilled. Kaseya will backfill each role with dedicated professionals who will prioritise our customers' success and better align with our company goals.

"It's also important to note that Kaseya has hired approximately 1,000 people in Miami alone since the start of 2023, and now employs over 5,000 people globally."

The company has not immediately responded to repeated requests from CRN about the exact number of cuts made. Gonzalez earlier told the South Florida Business Journal that the Miami-based company had cut 150 workers.

However, impacted employees disputed Kaseya's characterisation, with one former account manager claiming they were among 300 let go from Kaseya's Miami offices.

This person alleged being explicitly told they were "laid off" and that unemployment was effective immediately, contrary to assurances made during a sales kickoff about no planned job cuts.

Some former employees expressed shock at their dismissals on LinkedIn.

Phil Walker, CEO of California-based Network Solutions Provider, said he believes the cuts are due to some of the Datto product integrations. Kaseya bought rival Datto in 2022 for $6.2bn.

"Products change, and how we're selling it changed," he said.

"Post-Datto acquisition, I think integrating all those products changed the sales landscape. They brought on all of their competition. If I'm a sales rep that has to bring in net-new business and I've been chipping away at Datto for years, who am I chipping away at now?"