Microsoft Corporation and Amazon.com, Inc. Among Firms Cutting Jobs Aug. 20–21

Microsoft Corporation and Amazon.com, Inc. were among companies that announced layoffs between August 20 and August 21, 2026, in a set of actions that affected 5,453 employees across 24 separate layoff notices.

Overview

• Total layoff actions: 24
• Total employees affected: 5,453
• Reporting spans sectors including Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary, Health Care, Industrials, Transportation and Warehousing, Consumer Staples, Real Estate, Financials, and Materials.

Key company and sector highlights

• Microsoft Corporation accounted for the largest single-sector impact in the period, with the Information Technology sector reporting 3,200 employees affected; the reporting for Microsoft was cited by levelup.com, Wccftech and Game Developer.

• In Consumer Discretionary, five layoff actions affected 974 employees. Notable companies in that sector included Amazon.com, Inc., Lowe's Companies, Inc., and Starbucks Corporation. Reporting on Amazon.com, Inc. came via MSN, The Business Times and thestreet.com; Lowe's was reported through a WARN filing with state regulators; Starbucks Corporation was reported by Yahoo Finance (with additional local coverage from KOMO, The Independent and KUOW).

• The Health Care sector recorded four layoff actions affecting 190 employees. Companies listed include Tessera Therapeutics, Exelixis, Inc., and Amicus Therapeutics. Reporting sources include a WARN filing for Tessera Therapeutics, and Fierce Biotech, OpenTools and BioSpace for Exelixis, Inc.; Amicus Therapeutics was reported by BioSpace.

• The Industrials sector comprised four actions affecting 415 employees, with companies such as Saddle Creek Logistics Services, Conduent Commerical Solutions, LLC, and LeeMAH Electronics. Inc. Coverage for Saddle Creek Logistics Services appeared in Business Observer and Observer Local News; the latter two were reported via WARN filings with state regulators.

• Transportation and Warehousing saw 181 employees affected in one action by Postal Center International, Inc., reported via a WARN filing with state regulators.

• Consumer Staples recorded four actions affecting 148 employees across locations of Mission Foods and three Stone Brewing Co., LLC sites, with WARN filings cited for those notices.

• Financials included two actions affecting 77 employees involving Wells Fargo & Company and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

• Real Estate listed two actions affecting 266 employees; the record notes AeroFarms Inc. - Rescinded.

• Materials recorded one small action affecting 2 employees at Corteva Agriscience.

Attribution

Where provided, reporting channels for each layoff were noted alongside the company: examples include MSN, The Business Times and thestreet.com for Amazon.com, Inc.; WARN filings for Lowe's Companies, Inc., Conduent Commerical Solutions, LLC, and others; and sector-specific outlets such as Fierce Biotech for Exelixis, Inc.

This summary is limited to the layoff notices and reported counts supplied for August 20–21, 2026.