Amazon is among several large tech companies that are trimming their ranks, including Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., Qualcomm Inc. and Salesforce Inc. Representational image. AFP
New Delhi: Amazon.com Inc. on Wednesday began a round of layoffs that will ultimately impact more than 18,000 employees in the largest job cuts in its history, in a move it announced earlier this month.
The layoffs come as the online retailer grapples with slowing online sales and braces for a possible recession affecting the spending power of its customers.
The job cuts started in 2022 and initially affected Amazon’s Devices and Services group, which builds the Alexa digital assistant and Echo smart speakers. The latest round, that began on Wednesday, will mostly affect the retail division and human resources.
Though the cuts represent only about 1% of the total workforce, which includes hundreds of thousands of hourly warehouse and delivery personnel, they amount to about 6% of Amazon’s 350,000 corporate employees around the globe.
“Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so,” Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy said earlier this month in a memo to employees. “These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure.”
Amazon shares changed marginally in pre-market trading before exchanges opened in New York after closing down 2.1% at USD 96.05 on Tuesday.
Amazon’s Seattle headquarters
The world’s largest online retailer spent much of last year adjusting to a sharp slowdown in e-commerce growth as shoppers returned to pre-pandemic habits. Amazon delayed warehouse openings and halted hiring in its retail group. It broadened the freeze to the company’s corporate staff and then initiated job cuts.
Amazon is among several large tech companies that are trimming their ranks, including Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., Qualcomm Inc. and Salesforce Inc.
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