San Francisco, Dec 16 (IANS): Amazon has delayed the joining dates for some university graduates who were set to join the company in May, as part of cost-cutting efforts.

The company said that the students would not be able to begin until the end of 2023.

In an email seen by the Financial Times, a one-off payment of $13,000 has been offered to those affected, regardless of whether or not they decide to still join the company.

"In light of the challenging economic conditions, we're delaying the start dates for some of our college hires by up to six months," Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser was quoted as saying.

"We're offering assistance to help address any financial impact. Amazon remains committed to university recruiting and our internship program as important pathways to find the next generation of leaders and builders," he added.

However, the company declined to disclose precisely how many of its graduate hires would be affected, according to the report.

Moreover, Amazon is reportedly set to lay off over 20,000 employees in the coming days to cut costs.

Last month, the tech giant laid off about 10,000 employees or 3 per cent of its workforce.

The massive job cuts had hit several divisions, especially the Alexa virtual assistant business and the Luna cloud gaming unit, and corporate employees were being informed about being let go, reports CNBC.