Today, it was announced that Amazon will extend its job-cutting plans this year, stating they will cut 18,000.
This news comes at a time when the world economy is spiralling, with inflation soaring across the globe.
In November, Amazon already shed 10,000 workers. Amazon has announced that the latest announcement includes this figure.
In a message shared with Amazon employees today, CEO Any Jassy says:
“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 are 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.”
Mr Jassy goes onto say: “Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so. 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.”
Alexia Pedersen, VP of EMEA at O’Reilly, comments on the role eliminations:
“Redundancies are not made lightly. Organisations are considering several factors and deciding to reduce costs given the current economic uncertainty, with forecasted numbers showing a reduced demand for services and products.
“The technology sector stands out because there has been a period of rapid acceleration in digital transformation over recent years. This was accentuated by the pandemic, as many businesses had to rapidly move to an online presence in a very short timeframe. New skill sets were hired, and employees were upskilled to help organisations transition. Some of these projects have now been completed and talent is no longer required, whilst some of these projects are still underway, budgets are being cut in line with the economic projections being suggested by many economists.
“Britain currently has its lowest unemployment rate since 1974, and while the tech sector has taken a global hit, the UK hasn’t felt it so strongly. While headlines emphasising the mass layoffs dominate the media, the numbers aren’t matching up. At Meta, 650 staff out of 11,000 total were laid off in the UK, yet the roles for tech companies remain open.
“Some tech companies will want to take a cautious view and prepare for what may lie ahead by reducing costs, but the situation in the UK isn’t necessarily mirroring the global trend.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
