Amazon plans to lay off about 10,000 employees in what would be the largest reduction in the company’s history, according to reports.

The New York Times reported the mass layoffs could begin as soon as this week and will focus on Amazon’s devices organization, retail division and human resources, citing people with knowledge of the move who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Amazon did not immediately confirm the layoffs to USA TODAY.

The reported layoffs would affect about 3% of Amazon’s corporate employees and less than 1% of its global workforce. The company has more than 1.5 million workers worldwide.

A recent report from market analysis firm Finbold found Amazon had lost 45% of its value in the past year, from $1.6 trillion on Jan. 1 to $939 billion on Nov. 3. Other companies, including Apple and Microsoft, also saw drops in value.

Petra Moser, a professor of economics at New York University, had told USA TODAY the loss in market value probably would be felt through employment.

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Other major tech companies have announced similar moves in recent weeks. Thousands of people were laid off at Twitter in the beginning of November, one week after billionaire Elon Musk acquired the company.

A few days later, Facebook parent company Meta announced it was going to lay off more the 11,000 employees, about 13% of its workforce, “to become a leaner and more efficient company.”

The New York Times report comes as Amazon announced million of deals that will be available for its 48- hour Black Friday event, which begins Nov. 24.

On Oct. 27, Amazon announced in its third-quarter financial results that its net sales had increased more than 15% compared with last year, but operating income decreased to $2.5 billion compared with the $4.9 billion operating income in the same time span last year.

A New York Times report from Oct. 4 said Amazon would freeze corporate hiring in its retail business for the rest of the year, but Amazon said it has plans to hire roughly 150,000 people for open seasonal, full-time and part-time roles “across its operations network in the U.S. to help deliver for customers during the holidays.”

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amazon to lay off approximately 10,000 employees, report says

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