As part of Amazon's plan to cut 18,000 positions, an number of Comixology staffers were laid off on Wednesday, January 18, and notified of the action in a memo that was leaked to Twitter. The exact number of employees affected by the layoffs at Comixology, a leader in the digital comics space, has not been disclosed.
“Can confirm,” Comixology program manager Scott McGovern shared on Twitter. “There have been numerous cuts at @comixology this morning. Myself included.”
Staff immediately affected by the layoffs were reportedly locked out of work accounts, and were unable to access information about the terms of their severance. While some Comixology staff members were have already been laid off, others were given notice that their positions would be eliminated by the end of summer.
"They got me too," shared one Twitter user who was reportedly a part of the staff let go. He then began thanking his fellow colleagues who were also facing layoffs. "It was a fun 10 years. Longest job I ever had, one of the best experiences I've been through," he wrote.
A mix of supply chain delays, inflation and labor shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has been rough on the company's store operations, the memo cited. "As we head into 2023, we remain in uncertain economic times. Therefore we've determined that we need to take further steps to improve our cost structure so we can keep investing in the customer experience that attracts customers to Amazon and grows our business," the memo reads.
Earlier this year, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that staff cuts across Amazon were coming as part of the company's efforts to prioritize "what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses." In November, Amazon eliminated an unspecified number of positions in its Books group. At that time, Jassy said more companywide cuts would come in 2023 and specifically pointed to pending cuts in its Store division, which includes Comixology.
"This year’s review has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years," Jassy explained in a public statement about the companywide downsizing. "S-team and I are deeply aware that these role eliminations are difficult for people, and we don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted."
Amazon acquired Comixology in 2014 when the service operated on Amazon's platform and independently. In 2022, Amazon migrated Comixology into an app on Kindle that saw readers pushback over its user experience. Also last year, Comixology founder David Steinberger left the company to take another positions within Amazon.
Comixology has more than more than 230,000 comics, graphic novels, and manga from top publishers, including a range of independently published comics and Comixology Originals, a line of platform-specific and digital-first comics.
