Amazon Job Cuts Deliver Another Blow to Seattle Area’s Tech Workforce

Amazon’s job cuts announced this week delivered another blow to the tech labor force in the company’s headquarters city of Seattle, which was already losing jobs, Bloomberg reported Friday (Jan. 30).

The 16,000 layoffs included 1,400 in Seattle and 700 in the suburb of Bellevue, according to the report.

The Seattle area had already lost 2,000 jobs in a round of layoffs announced by Amazon in October, as well as 162 jobs cut by Expedia on Wednesday (Jan. 28) and 331 cut by Meta last week, per the report.

During 2025, nearly 13,000 jobs were lost in the four counties within commuting distance of Seattle, the report said, citing a report released this week by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC).

In a Tuesday (Jan. 27) press release announcing that report, the PSRC said that other than the pandemic, the last time the central Puget Sound region experienced an annual loss of jobs was in 2009, during the Great Recession.

PSRC added that while there was job growth during the previous two years, 2023 and 2024, that growth had slowed to 10,600 jobs and 14,700 jobs, respectively, down from the region’s historical job growth of between 30,000 and 40,000 jobs per year.

“The sectors hit hardest by losses are construction and service industry jobs, which includes tech,” the organization said in the release.

Amazon announced Wednesday (Jan. 28) that it is cutting 16,000 jobs across its global workforce.

PYMNTS reported at the time that this marked one of the largest headcount reductions in the company’s history and that the layoffs place Amazon among a growing list of companies across financial services, payments and technology recalibrating headcount as they invest more heavily in automation and artificial intelligence.

In a message to employees shared publicly and attributed to Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, the company said the job reductions stem from an ongoing effort “to strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership and removing bureaucracy.”

The Seattle Times reported Wednesday that Expedia will lay off 162 employees in Washington state in April.

“We are eliminating roles as well as opening some new roles as we remain disciplined about assessing the skills we need for the future,” an Expedia spokesperson told the publication.

KOMO News reported Jan. 21 that the 331 workers in Washington laid off by Meta were in the company’s Reality Labs division. It was reported Jan. 13 that Meta planned to eliminate 10% of the jobs in the Reality Labs unit as the company shifts its focus from virtual reality products to other artificial intelligence wearables.