Prime Video reportedly cuts staff in SG amidst regional strategy changes

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Amazon’s Prime Video has reportedly cut staff in Singapore as part of its plans to lay off several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organisation globally.

Don’t miss: Duolingo reportedly cuts staff in AI shift

This also came as part of its plans to change its content strategy in Southeast Asia from a model based on original productions to one focused on licensing, according to Variety.

According to multiple media reports, Gaurav Gandhi, VP Asia Pacific, said in a staff memo that the company has decided to discontinue some programmes and initiatives and rebalance its international organisation to focus on the countries and regions driving the most growth for its service.

Consequently, its APAC arms would see decreasing investments in Southeast Asia (SEA), moving to a leaner local operating model to support the surrounding territories, according to media reports.

The report added that David Simonsen, director for Amazon Prime Video SEA, will continue to lead the "leaner Singapore-based SEA team", working closely with Prime’s centralised business teams. It noted that there would be no change in Prime’s investment focus in its other APAC territories, including Japan and India.

The layoffs in SEA also reportedly mean an end to the production of local originals in the region, though media reports have noted that programmes and films in the region set to launch for 2024 and 2025 or that are in production will be unaffected.

In a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Amazon said that it has laid off several hundred roles globally, a relatively small percentage of the total number of people in the Prime Video business.

“Our industry continues to evolve quickly and it’s important that we prioritise our investments for the long-term success of our business, while relentlessly focusing on what we know matters most to our customers,” said Mike Hopkins, SVP of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios in the statement seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

“As a result, we’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact,” it said.

The note added that to help with the transition, it would be providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional benefits as applicable by country, and external job placement support for affected employees.

Amazon’s streaming platform, Twitch, also announced that it had made the decision to reduce the size of its workforce on 10 January. In a statement seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, it also stated that it had reduced its headcount by just over 500 people across Twitch as it seeks to build a more sustainable business in the long run.

“Throughout the year we have cut costs and made many decisions to be more efficient. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, it has become clear that our organisation is still meaningfully larger than it needs to be given the size of our business,” it said in the statement.

Some of the markets affected included the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and Singapore.

“This decision, while incredibly difficult and painful, is necessary to ensure that we can continue to serve our streamers sustainably without impacting their ability to support their careers on Twitch,” it added.

The layoffs come amidst a slew of redundancies in the technology sector. Last week, online language-learning app, Duolingo, also reportedly cut approximately 10% of its contractors in a move towards adopting generative artificial intelligence (AI) to develop content.

The company reportedly said that no full-time employees were affected, and that it turned to “off-boarding” as a last resort when alternate roles for affected staff could not be found.

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