Amazon US has recently fired a small number of staffers - about 80 - working for its pharmacy division, according to a report by news publication Semafor. The layoffs were confirmed by news website CNBC as well.

According to the Semafor report, the affected workers include pharmacy technicians and team leads, while registered pharmacists were largely unimpacted.

“Although eliminating roles is always difficult, we are making these changes now to keep investing in improving the customer experience, which will strengthen our business for the long term,” the report added, quoting Kelvin Downes, director of fulfillment at Amazon Pharmacy.

Amazon’s healthcare businesses were affected by the layoffs earlier this year. Some employees in the company’s pharmacy, digital health tools and Halo fitness band units were laid off, the CNBC report added.

Amazon has fired about 27,000 employees to date — 18,000, announced in January this year, and another 9,000 in March.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, in a January email to staff, cited an "uncertain economy" and "rapid hiring" as reasons behind the job cuts.

“We are working to support those who are affected and are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support,” he had said.

Then, in March, Jassy wrote in a blog post that the global retail giant would axe a further 9,000 employees, affecting staff mostly in Amazon Web Services or AWS, Amazon People eXperience and Technology (PXT), advertising, and Twitch, a live streaming platform for video gamers.

“As we’ve just concluded the second phase of our operating plan (“OP2”) this past week, I’m writing to share that we intend to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks—mostly in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch,” he said in the post.

ET had reported in November that the etailer was looking to cut jobs in India as well. The etailer shut its relatively smaller businesses in India like food delivery, wholesale distribution, and Amazon Academy as part of the restructuring.

Read the full report here.