At least 3,200 Amazon delivery drivers will be laid off by the end of April as the company keeps cutting ties with contractors

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At least 3,200 Amazon delivery drivers will be laid off by the end of April as the company keeps cutting ties with contractors
Amazon delivery trucks

Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Thousands of Amazon delivery drivers have been laid off in recent months - and it looks like many more workers will lose their jobs come spring.

More than 3,200 delivery drivers for Amazon will be let go by the end of April, Buzzfeed News reported.

Amazon has been cutting ties in recent months with some delivery contractors as it moves toward working with smaller, cheaper contractors, according to Buzzfeed.

The 3,200 layoffs will come from several different contractors and follow more than 2,000 people losing their jobs in October from several of Amazon's delivery-service partners, or DSPs. These partners typically work exclusively for Amazon and deliver packages to customers' homes and businesses. DSPs are in charge of drivers' wages, insurance, health benefits, and vehicle maintenance.

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The October layoffs included 900 workers in California and Texas from Letter Ride and more than 650 from Inpax in Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas.

"We work with a variety of carrier partners to get packages to Amazon customers and we regularly evaluate our partnerships," an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider amid the October layoffs. "We have ended our relationship with these companies, and drivers are being supported with opportunities to deliver Amazon packages with other local Delivery Service Partners."

Amazon gives laid-off workers the chance to apply for jobs with its other contractors. But as Buzzfeed News reported, no more than 60% of those workers are typically hired with other DSPs, Amazon's director of transportation compliance, Carey Richardson, recently said under oath.

Despite the contractor layoffs, Amazon's delivery network is growing quickly, as Business Insider's Hayley Peterson reported.

As of December, the company said it employed 800 third-party delivery partners that manage 75,000 drivers. Amazon operates 150 delivery stations in the US, which employ 90,000 workers.

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