As the outlook for the global economy continues to deteriorate, Amazon says it plans to fire more than 18,000 workers.
According to a memo CEO Andy Jassy distributed to staff, several teams will be impacted, including the human resources division and Amazon Stores.
“Long-lasting businesses go through many stages. They aren’t constantly in severe population expansion mode, he claimed.
Jassy had previously stated that the e-commerce behemoth would continue to make employment cuts through the beginning of 2023. The fall saw numerous publications indicate that Amazon intended to lay off about 10,000 workers.
As the pandemic changed consumer purchasing patterns toward e-commerce during the past several years, Amazon and other digital companies greatly increased hiring.
Now that individuals are reverting to their pre-pandemic habits and macroeconomic conditions are deteriorating, many of these ostensibly untouchable digital corporations are suffering whiplash and letting go of thousands of employees.
According to Jassy’s message, executives from Amazon recently gathered to discuss ways to streamline the business and give priority to “what matters most to consumers and the long-term sustainability of our businesses.”
Given the unstable state of the economy and the fact that we have been aggressively hiring over the past few years, he continued, “This year’s evaluation has been particularly challenging.”
According to Jassy, the layoffs would provide Amazon with a stronger cost structure so it can explore long-term prospects. However, he described the reductions as a “tough decision,” adding that he is “fully conscious that these position eliminations are terrible for people and we do not take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might damage those who are impacted”
He stated that the business will begin informing the affected employees on January 18.
Due to the widespread reliance of consumers on internet shopping during the pandemic, Amazon’s business originally experienced rapid growth.
But this year, the business must deal with a return to in-person shopping as well as soaring inflation that has dramatically decreased customer demand.
Amazon disappointed Wall Street in October with a Christmas season projection that sorely fell short of analysts’ predictions. About 50% of the company’s shares were lost last year.
Many other internet entrepreneurs and CEOs, including Jassy, have now acknowledged they miscalculated pandemic demand.
The largest employment cuts in business history, totaling 11,000, were recently revealed by Facebook’s parent company Meta. After Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, Twitter also revealed significant employee cutbacks.
This week, Salesforce announced it would reduce its workforce by 10%.
