According to a previously revealed workforce reduction, layoffs at Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) will now total more than 18,000 positions, stated CEO Andy Jassy in a public staff memo on Wednesday.
The company’s e-commerce and human resources departments will be the most affected by the layoff choices, which Amazon will announce starting on January 18, he added.
The reductions, which reflect a quick flip for a retailer that recently quadrupled its base pay threshold to compete more fiercely for talent, account for 6% of Amazon’s approximately 300,000-person corporate workforce.
Following Walmart Inc., Amazon is the second-largest private employer in America with more than 1.5 million employees, including warehouse staff (WMT.N).
In trading after hours, the shares increased by 2%. Annual planning “has been more challenging given the uncertain economy and that we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years,” Jassy wrote in the note.
As increasing inflation drove businesses and customers to reduce spending and Amazon’s share price fell by half in the past year, the company has prepared for expected slower growth.
According to a source, the corporation started laying off employees from its devices division in November with a goal of making 10,000 reductions. According to the tracking website, the tech industry laid off more than 150,000 workers in 2022, and that number is expected to rise. Salesforce Inc. (CRM.N) announced on Wednesday that it intended to lay off roughly 10% of its workforce, which numbers close to 8,000 as of October 31.
The fortunes of Amazon have drastically changed. It evolved from a corporation that was overbuilt for demand to one that was regarded as necessary during the pandemic for delivering items to locked-down households. Its layoffs already exceed the 11,000 reductions disclosed by Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. last year (META.O).
The email from Jassy, came after the Wall Street Journal reported that more than 17,000 jobs will be lost. He claimed that due to a leak, Amazon decided to break the news before informing the impacted personnel.
Amazon intends to pay severance and is still required to file specific legal notices regarding large layoffs.
Jassy said, “Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so.”
