Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook and podcast division, laid off about 5% of its employees, representing just over 100 staffers. The cutbacks come as other Amazon groups — including Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios and Twitch — this week are pink-slipping several hundred workers.
Audible CEO Bob Carrigan informed employees of the cuts in an audio memo Thursday. The layoffs do not affect Audible’s content teams, a source told PvNew.
“We did not take this route without considerable thought,” Carrigan said in the message. “But getting leaner and more efficient is the way we will need to operate now — and in the foreseeable future — in order to continue delivering best-in-class audio storytelling to our customers around the world.”
Audible had a “strong year” in 2023 and the business “is in good shape,” according to Carrigan. But the company needed to conduct layoffs “to position us for continued success in the coming year and into the future, given the increasingly challenging landscape we face.”
Carrigan also said, “I recognize the impact this will have on those transitioning out of Audible as well as all of you who remain. Thanks to all who are leaving us for their valuable contributions… This is a hard moment, and many of you understandably feel uncertainty about the future. I want you to know that we’re making these decisions to strengthen our business for the long term.”
Carrigan was named Audible’s CEO in 2019, taking over for Don Katz, the former journalist and author who founded Audible in 1995 and stepped aside as chief executive to become executive chairman.
Amazon acquired Newark, N.J.-based Audible in 2008 in a deal worth about $300 million. The Audible catalog comprises more than 850,000 titles, including a lineup of audio originals and audiobooks and podcasts from studios, entertainers, and print, audio and magazine publishers.
The cuts at Audible were first reported by Business Insider.
