On January 18, thousands of Amazon workers will receive bad news: they’re all unemployed. In the era of not being too brutish when terminating one’s employment, there will probably be some garrulous email about how one’s position at the e-commerce giant isn’t secure anymore; therefore, it’s not fair to keep said person around. They’re released to find other opportunities. Amazon has seen its growth slow immensely, the worst in nearly 20 years. The company had already set aside thousands of jobs to be axed before the Christmas holiday. Apparently, that figure wasn’t high enough (via NYT):
Amazon plans to eliminate 18,000 corporate and technology jobs in a significant expansion of its cost-cutting plans, the company’s chief executive, Andy Jassy, said in a message to employees on Wednesday.
The company previously planned to lay off roughly 10,000 employees late last year and early this year, The New York Times reported in mid-November. The first layoffs were primarily focused on the company’s devices and books organizations. Employees in human resources were also given buyout offers to resign.
The new wave of layoffs will begin on Jan. 18, Mr. Jassy said, and will focus on human resources as well as the large division that Amazon refers to as Stores. That includes the teams behind Amazon’s main online site, its vast field operations and warehouses, its physical stores and other consumer teams.
The 18,000 in total cuts represent roughly 6 percent of Amazon’s corporate work force. Late last year, managers in a variety of groups said they had been asked to prepare for potential layoffs, and employees have been bracing for the cuts.
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And after this slew of layoffs, the company will probably have to fire more people this year, as the economic recession under Joe Biden becomes more severe.
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