Amazon to cut 18,000 jobs amidst tech layoffs, eCommerce teams impacted

The tech industry has been hit hard recently, and Amazon has become the next company after Salesforce, Meta, Snap to reduce its headcount. The multinational company has decided to eliminate over 18,000 roles as part of its recent workforce reduction.

According to a public staff note posted on Wednesday, Amazon’s chief executive Andy Jessy said the company is planning to cut over 18,000 jobs between the reductions it made in November last year and the ones it is sharing. The layoff decisions will mainly affect its eCommerce and human resources teams.

“Several teams are impacted; however, the majority of role eliminations are in our Amazon stores and People Experience and Technology Solutions (PXT) organisations,” he said.

Jessy added that he is deeply aware that these role eliminations are difficult for people, and the company doesn’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted.

“We are working to support those who are affected and are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support,” he said.

The tech company decided to reveal the news to the public after a leak occurred. “We decided it was better to share this news earlier so you can hear the details directly from me. We intend on communicating with impacted employees starting on January 18,” Jessy said.

He also expressed his gratitude to the employees impacted by the latest round of layoff, “To those impacted by these reductions, I want you to know how grateful I am for your contributions to Amazon, and the work you have done on behalf of customers. You have made a meaningful difference in a lot of customers’ lives.”

Back in November last year, the company communicated the hard decision to eliminate a number of positions across its devices and books businesses, and also announced a voluntary reduction offer for some employees in its PXT organisation. It also shared that it was not done with Amazon's annual planning process and that there would be more role reductions in early 2023.

Meanwhile, earlier this week news broke that Salesforce has plans to cut 10% of its workforce as well as close down some of its offices.  The firm said that job cuts would lead to US$1.4 billion to US$2.1 billion in charges. In a letter to the employees of Salesforce, the company's co-CEO, Mark Benioff said, "The environment remains challenging and our customers are taking a more measured approach to their purchasing decisions. With this in mind, we’ve made the very difficult decision to reduce our workforce by about 10%, mostly over the coming weeks." He also took responsibility for hiring too many people leading into the economic downturn. Benioff added, “For those who will be leaving Salesforce, our priority is to fully support them, including by offering a generous package”.

In November, Meta also announced the layoff of 11,000 staff, approximately 13% of its global headcount. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a letter to employees that it is also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending its hiring freeze through the first quarter of next year. Meta is also restructuring its business teams more substantially. Meta's spokesperson declined to comment on what this means for the teams in Asia Pacific.

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