Prime Video Staff Face Layoffs In Europe As Job Consultations Begin

EXCLUSIVE: Prime Video is today beginning job consultations with staff in Europe, we hear.

It’s understood a figure of less than 5% of staff face layoffs through the cuts, which were triggered earlier this year when VP of Prime Video in EMEA Barry Furlong unveiled a restructure that impacts Europe, MENA and Africa.

The consultations are understood to be happening across Prime Video’s European offices, and those impacted are expected to be contacted today. Staff impact is estimated to be in the double figures.

The cuts were expected as part of Prime Video’s international restructuring, which is turn are part of a reduction of “several hundred roles” that would be eliminated across the Amazon content organization to reduce costs. Furlong told staff in January that the changes were to “prioritize resources on what matters most to customers” and “rebalance and pivot resources to focus on the areas that drive the highest impact and long-term success.”

In January, we revealed Prime Video‘s teams in Africa and the Middle East & North Africa regions were facing layoffs, as part of a wider restructure that “rebalanced” investment towards Amazon’s European content division.

The move split Europe in two clusters, with “emerging” territories such as Benelux, the CEE and the Nordics getting new investment, and funding for Africa and MENA slashed. The two European clusters, EU Established (EU5) and EU Emerging (EUX), are now led by Brigitte Ricou-Bellan and Ritchie Ordonez, respectively.

Prime Video will appoint a Director of EU Content & Programme Strategy, who will lead a new strategic regional programming function, working closely with U.S. and international colleagues on the content pipeline from Amazon MGM Studios.

Amazon has been making cuts across its entertainment footprint, with Deadline revealing layoffs were also impacting Southeast Asia’s originals team, and across the U.S., where the theatrical, unscripted and gaming unit Twitch units have been hit.

Amazon is hardly the only media company to have made redundancies in the past year, as economic headwinds and a move to profitability over subscriber growth in streaming have led to tough decisions across the board. The likes of Paramount Global, Viaplay, ProSiebenSat.1, Channel 4, Snap, Meta and Google have cut staff for various reasons.