News
Amazon Lays Off Comixology Staff
posted on by Alex Mateo
Amazon laid off a major number of its staff in its digital comic book platform division Comixology on Wednesday. According to Comixology program manager Scott McGovern, "numerous" staffers, about 75%, were affected and received an email from Amazon regarding the layoffs. Polygon reported that many people have been affected, and The Beat states that all jobs at Comixology have been eliminated. The entire division was laid off in three parts: with some leaving immediately, others in June, and another group that will stay until October.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy previously stated on January 4 that the current economy was a factor in this decision, and that the company's goal was to pursue "long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure." McGovern confirmed that according to a note sent by Amazon's retail CEO Doug Herrington, the layoffs are "part of a wider effort to lower [its] cost to serve."
Amazon began laying off employees in November with a reported plan to lay off about 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs. This includes the Amazon devices organization (Alexa), retail division, and human resources. The company then revealed earlier this month that it was laying off about 18,000 jobs.
Amazon acquired Comixology in 2014. In February 2022, Amazon integrated Comixology into Kindle.
Comixology launched the paid subscription service Comixology UNLIMITED in May 2016. The service includes manga from Kodansha USA Publishing, Dark Horse Comics, Seven Seas, Viz Media, Yen Press, and more publishers. Before the subscription service, Comixology had also partnered with publishers like Viz Media to release manga on its platform. The company licensed manga pioneer Shōtarō Ishinomori's catalog in 2012.
Sources: The Beat (Heidi MacDonald), Polygon (Nicole Carpenter), Scott McGovern's Twitter account
