Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video cut hundreds of jobs
Amazon on Wednesday said it would cut several hundred jobs at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, after a review of its business in the past year.
” [W]e’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,” wrote Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, in a note to staffers.
“Our prioritization of initiatives that we know will move the needle, along with our continued investments in programming, marketing and product, positions our business for an even stronger future,” Hopkins wrote.
After the deal was announced last May, Amazon has finally purchased MGM, giving Amazon control of one of Hollywood’s most storied brands.
An Amazon spokesperson declined to share which investments will be reduced or how many jobs will be affected at its Culver City offices.
The cuts come about two years after Amazon purchased MGM for $8.5 billion, increasing its footprint in film and television. With the deal, Amazon acquired popular franchises including the “Rocky,” “Creed” and “Pink Panther” movies, along with a catalog of more than 4,000 film titles.
The cuts are happening as many entertainment businesses experience financial struggles following the delay of productions during the six-month actors’ and writers’ strikes last year.
Amazon has a significant presence in Culver City, employing about 2,700 staffers in 2022, according to the city.
There were also significant job reductions at Amazon-owned Twitch on Wednesday, with the livestreaming platform reducing its workforce by more than 500 people. This comes as many tech platforms reduce staff following a wave of hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spotify said it would lay off 17% of its workforce, or about 1,500 people, as the tech downturn continues.
Twitch Chief Executive Dan Clancy said in a note to employees that its organization “is still meaningfully larger than it needs to be given the size of our business.”
“As with many other companies in the tech space, we are now sizing our organization based upon the current scale of our business and conservative predictions of how we expect to grow in the future,” Clancy wrote.
Twitch, best known as the home of popular video game livestreamers, is headquartered in San Francisco.
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