In a fresh set of announcements coming on the line of a major tech layoff spree, Amazon has announced that it would be laying off another set of 18,000 workers amidst the wake of an “uncertain economy” with a promise of providing the workers affected by company’s move with severance payments, health insurance, and placement support, which stands essential at the point of the job-stricken period.
This comes just over a month after Amazon parted ways with 10,000 employees in one of the biggest ever tech layoffs that came in the month of November last year.
Company’s CEO Andy Jassy said the company had hired rapidly in the past few years and after reviews, took this tough call of cutting the jobs majorly across its Amazon stores and PXT Organization.
Before coming into detail about the rationale behind this move from the company here’s what Andy Jassy said to his employees in the message:
As I shared back in November, as part of our annual planning process for 2023, leaders across the company have been working with their teams and looking at their workforce levels, investments they want to make in the future, and prioritizing what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses. This year’s review has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years.
In November, we communicated the hard decision to eliminate a number of positions across our Devices and Books businesses and also announced a voluntary reduction offer for some employees in our People, Experience, and Technology (PXT) organization. I also shared that we weren’t done with our annual planning process and that I expected there would be more role reductions in early 2023.
Today, I wanted to share the outcome of these further reviews, which is the difficult decision to eliminate additional roles. Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles. Several teams are impacted; however, the majority of role eliminations are in our Amazon Stores and PXT organizations.
S-team and I are deeply aware that these role eliminations are difficult for people, and we don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted. 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.
We typically wait to communicate about these outcomes until we can speak with the people who are directly impacted. However, because one of our teammates leaked this information externally, we decided it was better to share this news earlier so you can hear the details directly from me. We intend on communicating with impacted employees (or where applicable in Europe, with employee representative bodies) starting on January 18.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy confirms to lay off 18,000 employees
Amidst the existing job crisis across the major tech platforms, this devastating move will have a colossal impact on the lives of 18,000 families, a look at the clear cut mentioning of the reason behind the move:
1. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has flagged the term “uncertain economy”, a similar concern raised by other well-known experts in the industry and higher executives of the tech giants who have also laid off employees owing to cost-cutting measures, which implies that there is no certainty about progress graph of the economy in 2023 and later predominantly restricted to the US. This significantly will have a huge impact on the employees coming in from several countries whose economy is linked to the performance of the dollar, which in turn will lead to several job cuts where small traders are in link with Amazon
2. A move to brace up against the possible recession: It is certain that you have heard of this term back in 2022 as well, almost all the big companies while laying off marked their concern around the cost-cutting measures failing to which the company will have struggle in the coming days. Many top executives also see this as a measure to prepare themselves to cope with the company’s loss.
3. The incessant hiring bubble has busted: Soon after the world economy and the companies were getting out from the grip of COVID, several major companies hired on a rampant note as the market was growing, and now as the situation spirals out, they are unable to keep this up, leading to massive job cuts.
4. Andy Jassy in his statement clearly mentioned, “These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure; however, I’m also optimistic that we’ll be inventive, resourceful, and scrappy in this time when we’re not hiring expansively and eliminating some roles.
Exclusive mentioning to the employees who are going to be affected by this move Andy Jassy wrote a special message for them saying, “To those impacted by these reductions, I want you to know how grateful I am for your contributions to Amazon, and the work you have done on behalf of customers.
You have made a meaningful difference in a lot of customers’ lives. To those who will continue on the journey with us, I look forward to partnering with you to keep making life better and easier for customers every day and relentlessly inventing to do so.