Layoffs are sweeping Corporate America to kick off 2023

As recession fears swirl, a fresh round of layoffs is in the works for at least four corporate giants to start the new year.

Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy said late Wednesday the company would cut "just over 18,000 roles," a higher reduction than initially planned. Jassy's message came the same day Salesforce (CRM) said it would slash 10% of its workforce while Vimeo (VMEO) cut headcount by 11% in its second wave of reductions.

And it's not just tech workers being let go.

Goldman Sachs is reportedly hashing out plans to part ways with up to 4,000 bankers any day now, according to a year-end audio message from CEO David Solomon to staff last week.

This year's layoff announcements come as U.S. companies grapple with inflation, higher interest rates, and a deteriorating economic environment that has prompted both needed and precautionary cost-cutting — especially after many over-hired during the post-pandemic boom in 2021.

"Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so," Jassy said in his message to Amazon staff. "Companies that last a long time go through different phases. They’re not in heavy people expansion mode every year."

The e-commerce giant first said in November that about 10,000 jobs would be axed.

Jassy's remarks echoed ones from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who said in an email to staff on Wednesday the decision resulted from an environment that remains challenging and more measured spending by customers.

"I've been thinking a lot about how we came to this moment," Benioff wrote. "As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that."

Amazon employed 1,544,000 people as of Sept. 30, up from 1,468,000 during the same period in 2021, the company’s latest quarterly filing indicated. At Salesforce, headcount totaled 79,824 as of Oct. 31, per its own third quarter report, up from 69,530 the same time the prior year.