Amazon will shrink Audible, its audiobook distribution and creation platform, laying off about 30,000 jobs (roughly 10% of total workforce) according to multiple sources. This action follows a similar gutting of Amazon-owned podcast production unit Wondery in August (RAIN HERE). Audible is a lynchpin of the audiobook industry, owning an estimated 63% of US market share. Its ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange)unit allows authors to produce and publish audiobooks directly into the Audible market.Affected employees were notified this morning via internal messaging from Audible CEO Bob Carrigan. The full (leaked) announcement to staff is below, under the header “Important Organizational News.”“You’ve likely seen today’s Amazon A to Z post. We’ve had to make the very difficult decision to eliminate some roles across Audible. Colleagues in the US whose roles were impacted have already been notified; across other global hubs, affected employees are having discussions with their HR teams, following local processes. We are handling all transitions with care and respect. I want to thank all those impacted for their hard work and dedication to Audible and to our customers. We are working on an individual level to ensure all impacted employees are supported. Our HRBP and HRP team are available to you, and we have a licensed counselor available to all 24/7 through our Employee Assistance Program.“We will also be making organizational changes to add focus and speed to areas of the business that are critically important to how we attract, engage, and grow our customer base and creator universe. All of these areas require collaboration across Content, Marketing, Product and Tech, so we are streamlining the structure dedicated to each. This will involve shifting a number of roles across those groups in order to bring team members closer to key initiative owners and increase the speed of decision-making. Teams committed to each of these critical areas will report into dedicated Audible leaders, and all team cross-functional org movement will be shared within your respective orgs in the coming days. You can expect communications from Andy, Cynthia, Rachel and Tim highlighting these changes by end of the week.“As I’ve shared in several Allofus meetings, we are laser-focused on making sure we are organized and resourced for continued strength in the years ahead. This strategy is delivering strong results: accelerated catalog growth, expanded global reach, and increased paid listening. We are an ever-meaningful part of our customers’ lives, which leads to more opportunities for creators. Your commitment to Audible is deeply appreciated.”—————————————-
