Amazon poised to kick off fresh round of job cuts affecting 18,000 people

Amazon.com Inc., grappling with slowing online sales growth and bracing for a possible recession, is poised to kick off a new round of deep job cuts. 

The company announced earlier this month that it was laying off more than 18,000 employees among its corporate ranks — the largest job cull in its history. 

The eliminations started last year and initially fell hardest on Amazon’s Devices and Services group, which builds the Alexa digital assistant and Echo smart speakers. The latest round, scheduled to commence Wednesday, will mostly affect the retail division and human resources.  

While the