According to reports, Amazon could start firing 10,000 workers this week.
The planned layoffs will be the largest in business history, according to The New York Times, which cited people with knowledge of the situation. Although the company’s workforce (as well as valuation) has grown dramatically over the past 20 years, Amazon laid off around 1,500 employees in 2001 amid the dot-com bust. Currently, Amazon employs more than 1.5 million people worldwide, including hourly workers. Due to recent financial challenges and declining profitability, American tech titans like Meta (previously Facebook) and Twitter have also let off hundreds of employees.
According to the article, Amazon’s layoffs will have an impact on those working in human resources and the retail business. According to the article, other people who work on Alexa, Amazon’s virtual personal assistant, may also lose their employment. The number of layoffs is still unknown, and they are more likely to occur team by team rather than all at once as each business completes its planning. If it maintains its current level of around 10,000, it will make up 3% of Amazon’s corporate workforce and 1% of the entire workforce.
The corporation has been implementing severe cost-cutting measures, so the news of the layoffs isn’t altogether unexpected.
For instance, the business announced earlier this month on its blog that it will halt corporate employment in order to balance “investments with being thoughtful about the current economy.”
Senior Vice President of Amazon Beth Galetti stated in a blog post:
“We anticipate keeping this pause in place for the next few months and will continue to monitor what we’re seeing in the economy and the business to adjust as we think makes sense”.
Notably, the Alexa division, which employs about 10,000 people, is being closely watched by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal last week. The department hasn’t been “profitable,” according to the report, and it is allegedly making $5 billion in annual losses. Alexa is a voice assistant that customers and Amazon’s human resources division use, and it is said that the business is considering not adding new features to it.
Furthermore, it was said that Amazon planned to make cuts during the crucial holiday shopping period, a time when the corporation has always favoured stability.
As was already said, Amazon is not the only business feeling the effects of the macroeconomic conditions around the world. Over 3,500 employees were let off earlier this month by Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter. In November, Meta also made its largest-ever round of layoffs, firing about 11,000 employees.