Amazon is launching a wave of massive layoffs in 2023. More than 18,000 employees of the e-commerce giant will soon lose their jobs. Amazon wants to drastically reduce its workforce in order to reduce costs and expenses.
After recruiting with a vengeance during the pandemic, going so far as to double its global workforce between 2020 and 2022, Amazon is backtracking. The e-commerce giant is now planning a wave of massive layoffs impacting more than 18,000 employees around the world. Such a dismissal is a record in the history of the company, but testifies to the worsening of the economic situation. Amazon’s net profit fell 9% year on year in the third quarter of 2022.
Amazon announced a reduction in its workforce since November already, but we did not know until now how many employees would be affected by the layoffs. We expected to approximately 10,000 job cuts. Finally, more than 18,000 employees will lose their jobs at Amazon.
The layoff of more than 18,000 employees is a record in Amazon’s history
In a memo shared on Wednesday, CEO Andy Jassy announced that all terminated employees in the United States, Canada and Costa Rica will be informed from January 18. Chinese employees will have to wait until after the Chinese New Year (January 22) to find out if they will lose their jobs. As for European employees, they will soon be informed. Amazon has to comply with different European regulations regarding dismissals, which takes more time.
Doug Herrington, head of global retail said downsizing is part of “ of a broader effort to reduce our service costs so that we can continue to invest in the wide selection, low prices and fast shipping that our customers love “. Amazon counts reduce expenses in order to continue to offer the same quality of service to its customers. Moreover, Amazon also wants to transport the goods of its competitors to make its fleet of aircraft profitable.
The tech giants chain the waves of mass layoffs to deal with the global economic slowdown. Microsoft will lay off 11,000 employees and Meta has already cut 11,000 positions as well. At Twitter, 7,500 employees were sacked. Still, Amazon’s planned layoffs are among the largest in the tech industry.
Source : The Verge
