The world’s largest online retailer, Amazon, will begin laying off 10,000 employees in corporate and technology roles beginning this week, according to a report from The New York Times.
According to the report, the layoffs would be the largest in Amazon’s history and would have a massive effect on the company’s devices unit – including the voice-assistant Alexa, as well as the retail division, and human resources departments.
About 3% of Amazon’s corporate staff and less than 1% of its global workforce will be affected by this decision.
New York Times reported:
The cuts will focus on Amazon’s devices organization, including the voice-assistant Alexa, as well as at its retail division and in human resources, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The total number of layoffs remains fluid. But if it stays around 10,000, that would represent roughly 3 percent of Amazon’s corporate employees and less than 1 percent of its global work force of more than 1.5 million, which is primarily composed of hourly workers.
Amazon’s planned retrenchment during the critical holiday shopping season — when the company typically has valued stability — shows how quickly the souring global economy has put pressure on it to trim businesses that have been overstaffed or underdelivering for years.
Amazon would also become the latest technology company to lay off workers, which only recently it had been fighting to retain. Earlier this year, the e-commerce giant more than doubled the cap on cash compensation for its tech workers, citing “a particularly competitive labor market.”
Amazon is the latest company that has announced widespread layoffs in preparation for a possible economic collapse.
According to an internal memo addressed to Disney’s executives on Friday, the woke firm would soon begin enforcing layoffs, implementing a targeted hiring freeze, and limiting business travel to essential only as part of a wide cost-cutting initiative.
“We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions. But that is just what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time. Our company has weathered many challenges during our 100-year history, and I have no doubt we will achieve our goals and create a more nimble company better suited to the environment of tomorrow,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek wrote.
Early this month, Mark Zuckerberg announced that large-scale layoffs at Facebook (META) were planned.
“Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history. I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go. We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1,” Zuckerberg wrote.