E-commerce giant Amazon announced that it will be cutting approximately 18,000 jobs, as reported by Fox News Wednesday. The biggest number of layoffs in the company’s history will affect its real-life stores and businesses like Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go. Additionally, the cuts are reported to involve its other organizations in charge of human resources among other functions.

The number of layoffs is said to have come as a surprise to many of Amazon's 1.5 million employees worldwide, especially after it grew significantly during the pandemic. The company had initially announced that a 10,000-position job cut would begin back in November, as reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The company’s CEO, Andy Jassy, addressed employees saying, "These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure." He justified the latest updates and said that planning "has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we've hired rapidly over the last several years.”

This decision will directly impact six percent of the company’s approximate 300,000 corporate staff members in the United States. Notably, Amazon had offered voluntary buyouts.