Washington: Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will cut more than 18,000 jobs. manpowerciting the “uncertain economy” and the fact that the online retail giant “hired rapidly” during the pandemic.
“Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles,” CEO Andy Jessee said in a statement to his staff. The company announced. 10,000 severance in November.
Jesse said the company’s leadership is “very aware that it’s difficult for people to end roles, and we don’t take these decisions lightly.
“We are working to support those affected and are providing packages that include severance pay, interim health insurance benefits, and assistance with external job placement,” he said.
Some of the layoffs will take place in Europe, Jassi said, adding that affected workers will be notified starting Jan. 18.
He said the sudden announcement was being made “because one of our colleagues leaked this information externally.”
“This year’s review has been more challenging given the uncertain economy and the fact that we’ve hired quickly over the past several years,” Jassy said.
But he added that “Amazon has faced uncertain and challenging economies in the past, and we will continue to do so.”
The retailer had indeed hired with a vengeance during the pandemic to meet the explosion in delivery demand, doubling its global staff between the start of 2020 and the start of 2022.
The group had 1.54 million employees worldwide at the end of September, excluding seasonal workers hired during increased activity, particularly during the holiday season.
Takedown sizing
Amazon’s job cuts are the biggest recent workforce cuts to hit the US tech sector.
It’s also the largest in the Seattle-based company’s history.
Amazon saw its net profit fall 9% year over year in the third quarter. And for the previous quarter, Amazon expected anemic growth in November, between two and 8% over the year, and operating profit between $0 and $4 billion, up from 3.5% for the same period in 2021. in comparison.
The group is scheduled to announce its annual results on February 1.
In the tech sector, major platforms with ad-based business models are facing budget cuts from advertisers, who are reducing spending due to inflation and rising interest rates.
Facebook parent Meta announced in November that it would cut 11,000 jobs, or about 13 percent of its workforce. In late August, Snapchat laid off about 20 percent of its workforce, about 1,200 people.
Twitter was bought in October by billionaire Elon Musk, who promptly laid off half of the social media platform’s 7,500 employees.
Also, IT group Salesforce, which specializes in management solutions and cloud technology, announced Wednesday that it is laying off about 10 percent of its workforce, or just under 8,000 people.