Amazon’s mass layoffs hit digital comic service Comixology

Amazon’s mass layoffs on Wednesday saw a large part of Comixology employees be laid off. It announced its intention to cut 18,000 jobs starting January 18. On Wednesday, workers across the company started receiving notification of the layoffs. The notices were mainly focused on Amazon Stores, which also includes Comixology.

News of Comixology’s layoffs hit social media Wednesday; Comixology program manager Scott McGovern confirmed via Twitter that he and “numerous” other staffers were affected. The former and current Comixology workers spoke out to Polygon, stating that they received email notifications about layoffs. A number of employees were then pulled together into different meetings depending on whether they were to be let go instantly, cut in the following months or reduced further over the year.

Some workers claimed that immediately after the layoffs, employees were locked out of their work accounts. This was even while they still tried to figure out what was happening. Due to Amazon’s sheer volume of customers trying to get into the system, one worker stated that it was impossible to find the severance information they had requested in their layoff emails.

Amazon did not respond to the Jan. 4, statement by Andy Jassy, Amazon’s CEO. It is unknown how many Comixology workers will be affected, although workers spoke with Polygon and said that there was a large number who would lose their jobs. A smaller number of people were laid off immediately on Wednesday, with more notified that they’d stay on until mid-summer or longer. Workers said layoffs affected all positions and departments.

Comixology, the market leader for digital comics was clear when Amazon purchased it in 2014. At the time, the service operated on both Amazon’s platform and independently. Amazon migrated Comixology onto the Kindle infrastructure with a brand new app in 2022. The sudden change was received poorly by long-time Comixology users, who complained that the new app made it “harder to read, shop, and publish” on the platform. Polygon workers spoke out to confirm that Comixology employees care about user experience quality, but feel enslaved in major decisions such as the migration.

There are more than 230,000 comics, graphic novel, and manga available on the service, including top-publishers like Image, DC Comics and Dark Horse. The site also has a variety of independent comics and Comixology originals, which is a series of digital-first and platform-specific comics. It’s unclear what effect the layoffs may have on Comixology Originals.

Amazon’s massive layoffs mirror a similar situation at Microsoft, which is cutting 5% of its workforce, with around 10,000 jobs eliminated over the next two months. Microsoft’s gaming divisions will be included in the layoff, with studios like Halo Infinite’s 343 Industries and StarfieldThe cuts affect Bethesda Game Studios, a developer.