Amazon is planning a workforce reduction for 1,200 employees in its Barcelona and Madrid offices.

BarcelonaE-commerce giant Amazon has launched a collective dismissal process that could affect up to 1,200 employees at its corporate offices in Spain, according to sources familiar with the process who spoke to Europa Press. The US multinational announced this week a global workforce reduction affecting 14,000 people and has now also initiated two workforce reduction plans (EREs) in Spain. These two EREs will involve 1,200 layoffs at Amazon Digital Spain, with offices in Madrid, and Amazon Spain Service, in Barcelona. According to the same sources, there will be no impact on other cities in Spain or on the company's other operations. Amazon's global workforce comprises approximately 1.5 million employees, of whom around 350,000 perform corporate duties. In Spain, the multinational employs a total of 28,000 people.

The announcement of the cuts comes after Amazon presented its third-quarter results, in which it achieved a net profit of $21.187 billion (€18.213 billion), 38.2% more than the previous year. The Services Federation of the Workers' Commissions (CCOO) expressed its "rejection" of the measure this Friday and stated in a press release that, while awaiting "detailed information" on the contents of the plan, it demands "full information and transparency from the company regarding the process, in order to assess the reality that will have to be faced."

Union Rejection

According to the union, this measure was announced "without providing further details about the reasons behind it, which logically cannot have any economic basis in one of the world's most profitable business giants." "There is no economic justification for a cut of this magnitude when it was precisely the workforce affected by the layoffs that have decisively contributed to the company's exponential growth," the union argued in its statement. The union also pointed out that the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in this restructuring "remains to be seen," since, according to the American company itself, the objective is to reduce costs at the expense of jobs while "boosting profits." The Second Vice President of the Spanish Government and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, also criticized Amazon for announcing layoffs while reporting "millions in profits." "A company that makes millions in profits and abandons its workers is a model of shame," he emphasized on his Bluesky account. "This is the Amazon miracle: Jeff Bezos at the service of Trump, not paying taxes, destroying small businesses, and mistreating its workers."