Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced in an all-hands letter today that the company plans to cut more than 18,000 jobs, more than the 17,000 previously reported.

Andy Jassy said Amazon will begin communicating the layoffs on January 18, and the decision will largely affect the company's e-commerce and human resources organizations.

The job cuts represent 6 percent of Amazon's roughly 300,000 corporate employees, and Andy Jassy said in his all-hands letter that annual planning has become more difficult given the uncertain economy and massive hiring over the past few years.

IT Home has learned that Amazon has more than 1.5 million total employees, including warehouse workers, making it the second largest company after Walmart. But its shares have lost half their value over the past year as soaring inflation has forced businesses and consumers to cut back on spending.