Amazon's Devices Team Loses About 250 Jobs After a Run of New Gadget Launches

Amazon cut about 250 jobs on Wednesday in its devices and services unit after weeks of product rollouts including new Kindle e-readers and tablet computers, according to a Reuters story carried by Deccan Chronicle. The cuts mainly affect software development roles, and the unit is the team behind household brands like Alexa, Ring, Fire TV, and Kindle. The same day brought the latest generation of Alexa devices, a lineup of five products. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the cuts without elaborating. Amazon has not published severance terms for this round. For Metaintro readers in hardware and software jobs, this guide covers what was cut, what Amazon gave laid-off staff in its two biggest recent rounds, which notice rules apply in Washington state, and where the unit is still hiring.

What Did Amazon Cut in Its Devices and Services Unit?

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters the cuts affected no more than 250 jobs, mainly in software development. Amazon confirmed the cuts after a Reuters inquiry.

The devices and services group is broad. Its careers page lists teams for Alexa, Amazon Leo, and Ring, Blink, Key, and Sidewalk, and the group describes itself as passionate about creating technology that enriches peoples’ lives.

Where the affected staff work has not been made public. Amazon's October retail cuts reached staff in India, but for the devices round it is unclear whether any of the roles are in India.

Which Gadgets Did Amazon Launch Around the Cuts?

The launches came in quick succession. On October 1, Amazon introduced a completely redesigned Kindle family of the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Colorsoft. By Amazon's own figures, Kindle has seen double-digit growth globally for three consecutive years with more than 720 billion pages read in 2025 alone.

On October 8, Amazon introduced all-new Amazon Kids Tablets, sold in 8.7-inch and 11-inch size for children aged 3+ and 6+. The Amazon Kids Tablet 8 starts at $229.99.

The October 28 lineup had five new products purpose-built for the home. They include a new Echo Dot, which began shipping on October 28 for $99.99, an Echo Studio with Home Camera that began shipping the same day for $249.99, and a redesigned Echo Show 16 with a 16-inch full HD screen.

The lineup also includes the new Echo Time smart alarm clock, which has a 3.2-inch circular touchscreen and sells for $199.99. The Alexa Photo Frame is available starting at $199.99 in Black and $229.00 in real Birch or Walnut wood frames.

Amazon calls Echo Show its fastest-growing Echo product line, growing more than 25% year over year.

How Were Workers Told, and What Did Amazon Say?

Notice came by text and email. Workers received text messages and emails early Wednesday morning, as is the company's custom. One message came from Cherie Robinson, a human resources vice president in devices and services, and her note pointed to a thorough review of our structure.

Amazon gave a short reason. In a spokesperson's words, the layoffs will help the company operate more efficiently and better align with our product roadmap.

We’ve made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles, in the words of an Amazon spokesperson, via the Financial Express report.

How Does This Round Fit Amazon's Other Cuts?

This is Amazon's second round of cuts this month. Earlier this month, Amazon pared about 1,000 jobs in its core retail division. Internal Slack posts viewed by Business Insider and Reuters showed customer service, selling partner support and retail engineering teams were among those hit, and the posts suggested affected employees were in the U.S., India and the UK, Business Insider found. Those cuts came during Prime Big Deal Days.

That retail round used similar wording. In that round too, Amazon used the words we’ve made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles, and we’re committed to supporting affected employees through their transition.

Both October rounds are small next to the two large ones. October 2025 brought an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles. The January round covered approximately 16,000 roles across Amazon. State-level figures for that round are in Metaintro's look at the January cuts in Washington state.

In January, Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, raised the question of whether broad reductions every few months were the beginning of a new rhythm. Her answer was That’s not our plan, while adding that every team will make adjustments as appropriate.

What Did Amazon Give Laid-Off Staff in Its Last Big Rounds?

Amazon's two biggest recent rounds set out a similar package for staff who lost their roles.

The October 2025 package started with offering most employees 90 days to look for a new role internally (the timing will vary some based on local laws). It added that our recruiting teams will prioritize internal candidates.

For staff who did not move, the October 2025 memo promised transition support including severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits, and more. That support was for teammates who are unable to find a new role at Amazon or who choose not to look for one.

The January memo spelled out the window for US staff. It offered most US-based employees 90 days to look for a new role internally (timing will vary internationally based on local and country level requirements), followed by severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits (as applicable), and more.

Does Washington's WARN Law Cover These Cuts?

Washington's law turns on headcount at a single site, and the devices news does not say where the affected employees are based. The state's version of the WARN Act is called Mass Layoffs and Business Closings. A mass layoff is when an employer lays off 50 or more full-time workers during a 30-day period at a single site of employment.

When the law applies, the employer has to warn people early. Sixty days before a layoff, companies must provide written notice to the Employment Security Department, the affected employees and the chief elected official of the community. The notice must include the expected layoff date and a schedule of any further employment reductions.

Employers that skip notice face costs. A business that does not comply may need to pay up to $500 for each day of the violation, and it can avoid possible penalties if, within 3 weeks of the layoff, it gives back pay for each day of the violation, up to 60 days and pays the value of any benefits employees would have been entitled to if they had not lost their jobs. That back pay must be at each employee’s final rate of pay or their last 3-year average rate of pay, whichever is higher. Workers who think the law was broken can sue the employer in court within 3 years of the alleged violation.

The state agency's role is limited. The department cannot determine if the employer violated the law, but it can investigate a worker’s or union’s allegation that the employer violated the law. It also can sue the employer on behalf of workers, though it would do this rarely and only in cases when an employer repeatedly violates the law. To ask for an investigation, a worker emails the department with their name and the name of the business, contact details and what the worker believes the violation was.

When an employer files a notice, the department will post a copy of the notice without employee information on the WARN database page.

Is Amazon Still Hiring Software Engineers in Devices?

A Software Development Engineer role in Devices Software & Services, based in Irvine, California, is listed on Amazon's jobs site. The team is building the systems that put AI into production.

The listing names what it wants. Basic qualifications include a Bachelor's degree or equivalent, experience programming with at least one software programming language, 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience and 2+ years of contributing to new and current systems architecture and design (architecture, design patterns, reliability and scaling) experience.

The pay is printed. The base salary range is 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually in Irvine, and the package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs).

The work spans several devices. The role is meant to build Ambient Intelligence experiences that span Alexa, Fire TV, and mobile/wearable surfaces, and engineers on the team are actively writing code, as well as working on designs and mentoring others. The team sits in the Device OS org, which gets to work horizontally across many exciting new device types.

The role also asks for AI fluency. Preferred skills include Familiarity with Agentic Software Development using industry standard tools (Kiro, Claude, Cursor etc.), and the team uses AI coding assistants and agentic workflows as part of our daily software-development lifecycle.

What Is Amazon Telling Its Engineers About AI?

On October 27, Amazon published a memo on the engineer role. Amazon engineering leaders revised the role guideline for software development engineers, written up by Terk Terkowitz, VP/Distinguished Engineer, Worldwide Amazon Stores. The memo admits that input metrics such as token usage or adoption of AI tools are deeply flawed, the theme of what Amazon's engineering memo means for how engineers are judged.

The memo is direct about AI skills. It tells engineers to take the time to learn and apply AI into your daily work as soon as possible. It also warns that teams and individuals who are not adopting AI or increasing output metrics are falling behind.

The memo also asks engineers to stay close to the business, recommending that ICs of all levels find ways to become deeply connected to your customers.

If your work does not benefit from current AI tooling, that is a finding, not a failing, in the words of Terk Terkowitz in the Amazon memo on the developer role.

Where Is Amazon Still Hiring at Scale?

This season Amazon is hiring over 300,000 people for seasonal, part-time, and full-time roles across its U.S. core operations nationwide this holiday season. More on that push is in Metaintro's guide to Amazon's holiday hiring.

The company is also growing overall. In the second quarter of 2026, net sales rose 20% to $200.6 billion, and operating income rose to $27.5 billion from $19.2 billion a year earlier.

The next numbers are close. Amazon scheduled a conference call to discuss its Q3 2026 financial results for October 29, and it was due to report its third-quarter earnings after the US stock market closes on Thursday.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

The pattern matters more than the size. Amazon described the retail round as a small number of roles and its devices statement again spoke of the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles, part of what GeekWire called a series of smaller job cuts in recent months. For workers, the safer reading is to plan for team-by-team cuts at Amazon, where every team will make adjustments as appropriate, and not to read a new product launch as job security for the team behind it.

If you were cut, treat the internal job window from Amazon's last two big rounds as a reference point, not a promise, since no terms for this round are public. The Irvine opening above sits with a platform team that builds the shared AI/agent infrastructure used across multiple products, so a move there means AI infrastructure work rather than hardware.

For engineers outside Amazon, the memo is worth reading closely. Its warning that teams not adopting AI are falling behind, set out above, is aimed at Amazon staff, but it shows the standard Amazon now sets for its own engineers. Showing real AI work in your portfolio, with outcomes rather than tool lists, is one practical response.

Lacey Kaelani, Metaintro's CEO, puts it this way: Big companies now trim one team at a time. Keep your resume current and a short list of teams you want, so a cut becomes a move and not a scramble.

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People Also Asked

Q: How many jobs did Amazon cut in its devices unit?

A: Amazon cut about 250 jobs in its devices and services unit, mainly in software development.

Q: Do laid-off Amazon workers get severance?

A: Amazon has not published terms for this round. In January it offered severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits (as applicable), and more to staff who did not find or seek a new internal role.

Q: Which Amazon devices launched before the layoffs?

A: Amazon redesigned its Kindle family, launched new Amazon Kids Tablets, and on the day of the cuts unveiled five new products purpose-built for the home, including Echo Time and the Alexa Photo Frame.

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