On Wednesday, e-commerce giant Amazon began the process of laying-off its employees to implement cost-cutting after it reported profit drops in the last few quarters. The company gave no prior information to the employees and sent them emails seeking the termination of their services. The company plans to lay off around 10,000 employees globally this week across departments.
According to the reports, the company issued a notification confirming that it was cutting down employee numbers due to ‘unusual and uncertain macroeconomic environments.’ David Limp, Senior Vice President of Devices and Services at Amazon also assured in the notification that the company would continue to work closely with each individual to provide support, including assisting in finding new roles.
Amazon plans to lay off approximately 10,000 people in corporate & technology jobs as soon as this week, New York Times reported
— ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2022
Job cuts will focus on Amazon’s devices organisation, its retail division and human resources, reports NYT pic.twitter.com/1n6iPcmSJ0
“It pains me to have to deliver this news as we know we will lose talented Amazonians from the Devices & Services org as a result. While I know this news is tough to digest, I do want to emphasize that the Devices & Services organization remains an important area of investment for Amazon, and we will continue to invent on behalf of our customers,” Limp said.
He also mentioned the current economic situation as a justification for restructuring and streamlining some teams and initiatives. “One of the repercussions of these decisions is that some positions will no longer be necessary,” he continued.
While the layoffs will affect Amazon’s global workforce, they will have the greatest impact on its Devices & Services organization. The impacted staff has received official notification of their termination, and the firm has offered them two months to find another position within the company. If the employees are unable to find a new job, Amazon has promised to help them through the transition by providing a package that comprises a separation payment, transitional benefits, and external job placement assistance.
Notably, the company had more than 1.6 million full-time and part-time employees as of December 31 last year. Amazon has however said that the job cuts would be effective beginning on January 17. Employees working outside of the United States and Canada have been affected by Amazon’s this decision, most of them being Indians holding H1B visas. Many have taken to social media to inform others about the layoff and seek a new job position within a limited time period.
An H1B visa is granted to people abroad who get employment in the United States. If an H1B visa holder is sacked, he would only have 60 days to find another employment, or else will have to return to his native country. With the recent layoffs at Twitter, Meta, and now Amazon, many foreign workers, especially a huge number of Indians, are in distress since they only have 60 days to find new employment if they want to continue to stay in the United States.
Taking to LinkedIn, Raj Kansagra, former Software Development Engineer II at Amazon Alexa team said that he was actively looking for a job since he is the holder of an H1B visa. “Today, I found out that I’ve been laid off. I’m joining many others who are experiencing the feelings that come with losing your dream job. I was with Amazon for 6 years. We have seen Alexa grow from its early days and it’s been an incredible journey. I’m proud of what we built together. I’m on an H1-B visa so time is of the essence to find something new,” Kansagra wrote.
Another former Amazon employee named Shivani Parate who worked as Software Development Engineer at Amazon for nearly 2.5 years said that she was laid off and that was looking for an employment opportunity in the US. “Unfortunately, I was impacted by today’s layoff with 10,000 other Amazonians. It is super hard for all of us and I am still trying to navigate through this, while constrained by the timeline of being on a #visa. I am nothing but grateful for the time I have spent at Amazon, learning and collaborating with some of the brightest folks in the industry,” Parate’s LinkedIn post read.
In addition to the United States, numerous Indians working for Amazon in Canada have also been laid off. Robin Badsara, a Software Development Engineer at Amazon’s Canada headquarters said that he was also laid off. “Hello Network, Unfortunately, I was impacted by the Amazon layoff today. I was part of the Alexa development tech Team…. I am currently in Canada and available for work. If your organization has openings for sources or recruiters, please let me know or direct me to the right one. Thanks,” Badsara’s LinkedIn post read.
Amazon employs around 1.5 million people worldwide, the majority of whom are hourly employees. During the COVID-19 epidemic, the online retail business, like other digital and social media giants, made substantial profits as homebound buyers purchased more things online. However, sales growth slowed as the epidemic abated and customers relied less on e-commerce. As per the reports, the company reported two consecutive losses this year.
The company said that it had to lay off the employees to implement cost-cutting. It has previously axed some of its ventures to slash expenses, including subsidiary fabric.com, Amazon Care, and the cooler-sized home delivery robot Scout. It has also reduced its physical footprint by postponing or cancelling plans to occupy additional facilities around the country. “The company was preparing for what could be a slower growth period and will be careful about hiring shortly,” said Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky.
The decision to lay off by the e-commerce giant Amazon comes a week after Facebook parent Meta and Elon Musk’s Twitter fired thousands of employees globally. Last week, Facebook laid off over 11,000 employees, accounting for approximately 13% of its workforce. For the first time in the company’s history, it has reduced its employees on a massive scale. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, sacked half of its worldwide workforce of 7,500 employees, stating that “the firm would need to find new sources of revenue or it would not survive the upcoming economic collapse.”
