Amazon Layoffs Show Where Alexa is Really Headed and Its Surprisingly High Revenue

Exclusive report on the biggest news story of Friday before that other story

Amazon conducted layoffs on Friday that included a significant number of Alexa staff members. Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Fire TV, wrote a memo saying the company would cut several hundred jobs. Synthedia has learned that over 150 positions were in the enterprise groups, with Alexa Voice Service being particularly hard hit. An estimate published in Blind is around 300 in total.

Synthedia investigated and found that some of the Alexa groups were hit harder than others—some groups even gained headcount. The groups with a high probability of generating revenue did best. For the enterprise-oriented teams, that revenue is largely based on growth projections. The consumer segment layoff strategy was more about preserving existing revenue. Alexa’s consumer subscription revenue is far larger than previously reported and the Alexa team would like to ensure that the cash keeps flowing.