Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs at its Seattle headquarters and elsewhere, The Seattle Times reported.

The cuts are mostly in the company's consumer-retail division, two sources told The Times.

Amazon has previously said it will employ 50,000 people at its second headquarters, dubbed HQ2.



Amazon is shedding hundreds of corporate jobs, most of which are in the company's retail division — the part in charge of selling stuff to customers — The Seattle Times first reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

An exact number has not been announced, but the report says it's expected to be "several hundred" at the company's Seattle headquarters and "hundreds more" elsewhere.

With more than 566,000 employees as of December worldwide, Amazon is also the second-largest employer in the US, taking into consideration both corporate employees and ones at its fulfillment centers. Its Seattle headquarters alone employs over 40,000 people.

The percentage of affected employees is likely to remain low, but cuts of any kind are rare at Amazon, The Times noted. Some employees have already been informed, while others will be told in the coming weeks, a source told the newspaper.

Amazon told Business Insider that the employees in the positions being cut were given the option to be reassigned to another division of the company that's growing.

In a statement, the company said: "As part of our annual planning process, we are making head count adjustments across the company — small reductions in a couple of places and aggressive hiring in many others. For affected employees, we work to find roles in the areas where we are hiring."

The cuts come as the company is drumming up support for its second headquarters, dubbed HQ2. Amazon, which last month released a shortlist of 20 cities under consideration for HQ2, has said it will fill it with 50,000 employees.