Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, Feb. 12 (Xinhua)-- Amazon's Zappos quietly laid off more than 300 employees, or about 20 percent of its workforce, last month amid massive layoffs at online retailers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Some of the positions that have been cut include customer service representatives, the report quoted people familiar with the matter as saying.

Zappos's Laura Davis said the layoffs were "ultimately designed to ensure that Zappos continues to provide a superior customer experience over the long term". She added that it was part of the company's regular business plan.

Las Vegas-based Zappos, independent of Amazon, was acquired by the retail giant for $1.2 billion in 2009. CTOnews.com learned that Zappos's layoffs came after the biggest layoff in Amazon's history last month, when Amazon cut more than 18000 jobs.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassie told employees in a memo on January 4 that most employees in Amazon's store and human experience and technology solutions division were being laid off. Amazon has been "hiring fast" in recent years, but this year's recruitment review has been "more difficult" because of the recession, he said in the memo.

Amazon brand aggregator Boosted Commerce also laid off 16 employees this month. A representative of Boosted Commerce said 20 per cent of its full-time employees in the US were affected.

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