In largest-ever layoffs, Amazon begins job cuts in US, Canada

Amazon began notifying employees by email, Doug Herrington, the company’s worldwide retail chief, said in a memo. In his memo, Herrington said Amazon.com would provide severance, transitional health benefits and job placement to the workers who have been laid off.

The layoffs are the latest in the US technology sector, with companies cutting their bloated workforce and slashing costs to reverse pandemic-era excesses and prepare for a worsening global economy.

Earlier this month, Amazon.com Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy sad that the job cuts, which would be about six per cent of the total employees, would mostly affect the e-commerce and human resources divisions.

The company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that the layoffs were a response to “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”

Notifications in China will be sent after the Chinese New Year, and in other regions the company must consult with employee representatives before finalizing layoffs.

Amazon’s job cuts were part of an effort to lower costs “so we can continue investing in the wide selection, low prices and fast shipping that our customers love,” Doug Herrington said in the memo. He added that Amazon would continue to “investing meaningfully” in growth areas including groceries, Amazon’s business-to-business sales program, services for third-party sellers and healthcare.

The job cuts had started last year amid the recession fears. Majority of job were cut from Amazon’s Devices and Services group. While the cuts represent only about 1 per cent of the total workforce, which includes hundreds of thousands of hourly warehouse and delivery personnel, they amount to about 6 per cent of Amazon’s 350,000 corporate employees around the globe.

(With agency inputs)