Here's what Amazon told Audible staff as layoffs hit the audiobook division

Amazon is making layoffs at Audible as part of wider plans to cut 14,000 corporate jobs, Business Insider has learned.

Bob Carrigan, the CEO of Audible, told employees in a Tuesday email, which was seen by Business Insider, that affected workers have been notified and additional organizational changes would follow.

Those changes would "add focus and speed" to the audiobook and podcast division's most critical growth areas, he said.

Carrigan added that Audible is "laser-focused on making sure we are organized and resourced for continued strength in the years ahead."

The number of affected roles at Audible could not be learned.

Amazon declined to comment, referring Business Insider to a Tuesday blog post from Beth Galetti, the company's senior vice president of people experience and technology, announcing the sweeping cuts.

Important Organizational NewsAll,You've likely seen today's Amazon A to Z post. We've had to make the very difficult decision to eliminate some roles across Audible. Colleagues in the US whose roles were impacted have already been notified; across other global hubs, affected employees are having discussions with their HR teams, following local processes. We are handling all transitions with care and respect. I want to thank all those impacted for their hard work and dedication to Audible and to our customers. We are working on an individual level to ensure all impacted employees are supported. Our HRBP and HRP team are available to you, and we have a licensed counselor available to all 24/7 through our Employee Assistance Program.We will also be making organizational changes to add focus and speed to areas of the business that are critically important to how we attract, engage, and grow our customer base and creator universe. All of these areas require collaboration across Content, Marketing, Product and Tech, so we are streamlining the structure dedicated to each. This will involve shifting a number of roles across those groups in order to bring team members closer to key initiative owners and increase the speed of decision-making. Teams committed to each of these critical areas will report into dedicated Audible leaders, and all team cross-functional org movement will be shared within your respective orgs in the coming days. You can expect communications from Andy, Cynthia, Rachel and Tim highlighting these changes by end of the week.As I've shared in several Allofus meetings, we are laser-focused on making sure we are organized and resourced for continued strength in the years ahead. This strategy is delivering strong results: accelerated catalog growth, expanded global reach, and increased paid listening. We are an ever-meaningful part of our customers' lives, which leads to more opportunities for creators. Your commitment to Audible is deeply appreciated.

Read next