Online retailer Amazon to slash 18,000 jobs - Dispatch Weekly

As it fights to slash expenses, online retailer Amazon expects to fire more than 18,000 workers, the most ever in the history of the company.

The online powerhouse, which employs 1.5 million people worldwide, did not specify which ​country would experience job losses but did suggest that Europe would be affected.

The majority of job cutbacks will occur in its retail locations, including Amazon Fresh and Go, as well as its human resources department.

Boss Andy Jassy blamed the cuts on the “uncertain economy,” claiming that the company had “hired quickly over several years.”

In a memo to staff, he ​said: “We don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might touch the lives of those who are impacted.”

He claimed that one of the company’s employees had leaked the layoffs to the outside world, prompting the early announcement.

​“Companies that last a long time go through different phases. They’re not in heavy people expansion mode every year,” he added.

After experiencing a commercial boom during the pandemic, when customers were stranded at home and spent a lot online, Amazon has seen sales decrease.

Tech companies are being hard impacted by a potent confluence of falling advertising income as a result of corporations cutting costs and consumers cutting down on spending as the cost of living issue bites.

Both Salesforce, a provider of cloud-based commercial software, and Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, have lately announced significant layoffs.

Amazon has already disclosed that it will scale back on initiatives like the Echo, also known as Alexa, and delivery robots, which were merely nice-to-haves but didn’t generate any revenue.

According to anecdotal evidence, companies in Silicon Valley often acquire and retain exceptional employees at appealing pay even when they are not urgently needed in order to prevent them from joining competitors. The major IT industry can no longer afford to support this culture.

By January 18, Amazon employees who will be affected by the reductions should know​ their fate​.

The action follows the IT juggernaut’s announcement last year that it will reduce its staff without specifying the number of positions that would be eliminated.

Tech companies are being hard impacted by a potent confluence of falling advertising income as a result of corporations cutting costs and consumers cutting down on spending as the cost of living issue bites.

As a result of its warning that it had overhired during the pandemic, the corporation had already halted hiring new employees and ​started ​scaling back some of its warehouse expansion.

Additionally, it has taken steps to close off some areas of its operations by shelving plans for things like a personal delivery robot.

According to Ray Wang of the Silicon Valley-based firm Constellation Research​: ​”Prior to the pandemic, tech companies would often remove only the bottom 1% to 3% of their workforce​.​”