Amidst economic concerns, Amazon is preparing to cut thousands of jobs.
The cuts are expected to affect mostly office staff.
The extent of the cuts are expected to be the largest in Amazon’s history, and it comes at a time where Meta and Twitter have also made significant cuts to their own workforce.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s Founder, has expressed his view that corporations and organisations need to “batten down the hatches” as the US is already in or heading towards a recession.
The exact number of jobs that are expected to be lost remains unannounced.
Simon Noble, SVP EMEA, Magnit, comments:
“Businesses across the tech sector are experiencing significant staffing changes, as a wave of redundancies hits the industry with force. Now is a good time to reassess long-term talent strategies, and prepare for any future shift.
“In order to be more agile in responding to variable economic conditions, businesses should consider leveraging different types of workers. For instance, contingent workers, those who work on a project or temporary basis, are an effective source of top talent to fulfil fluctuating business needs.”
Meta and Twitter have also recently made significant cuts
On the 9th November, it was reported that Meta is expected to lay off thousands of employees as job cuts and hiring freezes mount.
Also, Twitter saw thousands of jobs being slashed following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media site.
The tech industry has had a tumultuous few weeks, highlighting an urgent need for businesses across the industry to reassess their workforce management strategy.
Julia Kermode, founder of IWORK, said:
“Such a vast number of job cuts seems surprising given the sheer size and dominance of Amazon – and at an odd time of the year, given that the run-in to Christmas is often the busiest for these companies. It could mean temporary workers are relied on to plug the gaps as and when business ramps up again.
“There haven’t been any cuts to self-employed delivery drivers, from what I can see, with Amazon actively recruiting across the UK. Demand for self-employed drivers will inevitably increase as Christmas approaches. However, with rising fuel prices and the cost of living crisis deepening, it’s vital that Amazon pays self-employed drivers fairly. As one of the biggest companies in the world, they are in a much stronger position to ride out economic uncertainty compared to self-employed workers, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet.”
Kate Palmer, HR Advice and Consultancy Director at Peninsula, comments:
“As the cost-of-living crisis continues, businesses are struggling to remain competitive so are looking at ways to make cost savings and ensure their long-term financial viability. In some cases, redundancies will be inevitable, which may be why we have seen more announcements of this in the news recently. However, it’s important for employers to exhaust all other options and not jump straight to making staff redundant.
“Failing to take into consideration and/or trial alternatives could lead to successful claims of unfair dismissal. Common alternatives may include halting overtime work and recruitment processes; agreement to reduce salaries or working hours; temporary periods of layoff or short time working; and removing discretionary bonus payments.
“Where a business has identified that redundancy is their only option, they should complete full and fair consultation with affected employees and their representatives and adhere closely to rules on collective consultation. If an employer is making 20 or more people redundant at a single establishment within a 90-day period, they will have to submit an HR1 form as notification to the Secretary of State. Failure to do so could lead to criminal fines and sanctions.
“Even when there are fair and genuine grounds for proceeding with redundancy action, claims can still arise if the process is not completed properly. All aspects of the selection process must be equal to all employees; this includes when deciding who should be included as being at-risk of redundancy, developing the selection criteria to use and, ultimately, selecting an individual for redundancy.
“The selection criterion should focus on objective scoring, which can easily be justified by reference to other documents (e.g. the employment contract or appraisal forms). It should also not treat someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic they hold – for example, an employee who has lots of time off due to their disability should not have their absences included in the scoring. Or, an employee whose performance slipped whilst they were pregnant should not be disadvantaged. Doing any of these things may amount to discrimination.”
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.
