Amazon began laying off thousands more employees on Wednesday, as the online retailer and cloud computing behemoth continues the largest round of layoffs in its history, just months after laying off 10,000 workers.
According to the Seattle Times and other news outlets, Amazon cut jobs in its human resources and retail divisions, as the company prepares to lay off an additional 8,000 workers. According to Bloomberg, Amazon’s global retail chief, Doug Herrington, stated in a memo that the company would begin notifying employees via email on Wednesday.
Over 18,000 Amazon employees will be laid off.
In November, Amazon began laying off approximately 10,000 employees in its devices organisation, retail division, and human resources division.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced on January 4 that the company would lay off more than 18,000 employees “between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today.” Jassy stated that additional layoff notifications would begin on January 18.
How many people work for Amazon?
As of October 2022, Amazon had over 1.5 million employees.
What does Amazon have to say about the layoffs?
In his Jan. 4 note, Jassy stated that the company will provide severance packages to affected employees, which will include separation payments, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement assistance.
“Amazon has previously weathered uncertain and difficult economies, and we will continue to do so. These changes will allow us to pursue long-term opportunities with a more cost-effective cost structure “He stated. “However, I am optimistic that we will be inventive, resourceful, and scrappy during this period in which we are not hiring broadly and are eliminating some roles. Companies that survive for a long time go through various stages. They are not constantly expanding their workforce.”
Amazon, Microsoft, and other technology companies are laying off workers.
Amazon’s announcement comes on the same day that Microsoft announced a 10,000-person workforce reduction through the end of the fiscal year’s third quarter in 2023. (ending March 31).
They aren’t the only tech companies that have recently laid off employees; according to Layoffs.fyi, a website that has been tracking tech layoffs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, there were at least 154,000 layoffs from more than 1,000 tech companies last year.
