Amazon sheds 99K employees and will slow office hiring | Microsoft added 40K workers in past year

Amazon sheds a record number of workers: The company’s headcount declined by 99,000 employees from the first to the second quarter, to 1.52 million people, the largest sequential drop in its history, after overstaffing its warehouses to handle pandemic-driven demand. The decline was primarily due to attrition in Amazon’s fulfillment and distribution network. Amazon also plans to become more cautious in its hiring at its headquarters and other offices. “I think it’s right for people to step back and question their hiring plans,” said Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky, alluding to other major tech companies that are also slowing their growth. “We’re doing that, as well. I don’t think you’ll see us hiring at the same pace we did over the last year, or the last few years.”

More from Amazon earnings: 

• Shares of Amazon rose 10% after it beat revenue expectations for its fiscal second quarter as the company aims to control costs and deal with ongoing inflationary pressures.

• Amazon’s first-party online store sales represented less than 42% of overall sales — a new percentage low. 

Microsoft adds record number of workers: The company had 221,000 employees as of June 30, an increase of 40,000 people or 22% from the same point the prior year. It’s the largest annual increase in employment in Microsoft’s history, based on data tracked by GeekWire.

‘I would describe him as the ultimate dreamer’: Family, friends and colleagues shared their memories of Richard Tait, the serial entrepreneur, Microsoft vet and co-creator of the popular board game “Cranium” who died this week at age 58.

Amazon to shut down Amazon Drive: The cloud storage service is shuttering on Dec. 31 of next year as Amazon focuses on Amazon Photos.

Startup reveals its home maintenance service: Seattle’s Welcome Home takes a predictive and proactive approach to everything from yard work to auto detailing by offering weekly deals across neighborhoods. Read more.

Microsoft’s clean energy breakthrough for data centers: Calling it a “moon landing moment” for the data center industry, the tech giant successfully demonstrated a large-scale generator that runs on hydrogen fuel cells as a cleaner way to keep the internet humming.