Amazon has reduced its workforce at Wondery, the podcasting division known for popular shows like “Dr. Death” and “Business Wars,” according to a recent statement. The company announced the cuts on Friday, although the exact number of affected employees remains unclear.
Amazon acquired Wondery in 2020, reportedly for $300 million. Last year, the e-commerce giant also signed a three-year, $100 million deal for the podcast “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce,” which features the NFL star brothers.
“We regularly review our team structures to ensure we’re best set up to serve customers,” said Amazon spokesperson Alice Zou in a statement to Reuters. “Following a recent review, we’ve identified a small number of roles in the Wondery organization that are no longer required.”
A source familiar with the situation, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, indicated that both the content and advertising teams were impacted, with the cuts potentially affecting a significant number of workers. Zou stated the number was lower but didn’t provide specific numbers. Amazon has not publicly disclosed the size of its Wondery workforce, and Zou declined to offer further details regarding the unit’s financial performance or team size.
Earlier this month, Wondery shut down its operations in Brazil and Mexico. Sarah Barrett, the head of Mexico podcast content, publicly addressed her termination in a LinkedIn post.
Wondery was founded in 2016 and has developed several podcasts that were adapted into streaming television series, including “The Shrink Next Door.” These most recent job cuts follow a previous round of reductions among Amazon’s communications staff last month, reflecting CEO Andy Jassy’s continued efforts to streamline the company and eliminate redundancies.
Since taking over as CEO in July 2021, Jassy has overseen the elimination of tens of thousands of corporate positions. Last year, he publicly stated a plan to reorganize business units to decrease the ratio of managers to “individual contributors” by the close of the first quarter of this year.
Amazon shares closed up 1.54% at $211.96.
(Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Leslie Adler)
