Amazon Begins Mass Layoffs

Amazon on Tuesday began laying off employees in its corporate and tech workforce to cut costs.

CEO Andy Jassy is moving aggressively to cut costs across Amazon, and the company previously said it would freeze hiring in its corporate workforce.

Workers in several divisions, including Alexa and the Luna cloud gaming unit, were notified that they were being let go.

Amazon aims to eliminate about 10,000 jobs, mostly in retail, devices and human resources.

JUST IN 🚨 Amazon has started cutting jobs, with layoffs hitting Alexa unit and cloud gaming division – CNBC

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 16, 2022

https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1592210452028719104

Interesting how news of massive layoffs of 21,000 workers by @Meta and @Amazon were held off until after Election "Day"….

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) November 15, 2022

CNBC reported:

By midday Tuesday, Amazon had not sent out any companywide communication about the planned layoffs, which sparked frustration among employees, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because of confidentiality.

Representatives from Amazon declined to comment.

In recent weeks, Amazon also began laying off some contracted employees who worked in recruiting roles for its advertising, internal operations, and Fire TV divisions, according to people with knowledge of the cuts.

One employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said Amazon informed her earlier this month that it wouldn’t be renewing her contract. Last month, she was in talks to pursue a full-time role in Amazon’s consumer division, but her interview was abruptly canceled due to ongoing restructuring, she was told.

Jassy has aggressively curtailed expenses across the company in recent months as it stares down a weakening economy and slowing growth in its retail business. Previously, the company said it would pause hiring among its corporate workforce, and it has halted some experimental projects, as well as opted to close, delay or cancel new warehouse locations.

Until now, it had managed to avoid mass layoffs by offering employees impacted by project closures the opportunity to transfer to other divisions within the company.

Amazon is the latest company to announce mass layoffs.

Below are some of the others:

Current List of Mass Layoffs:

1. Amazon: Laying of 10,000+ this week

2. Twitter: 50% of workforce

3. Snapchat: 20% of workforce

4. Meta: 13% of workforce

5. Credit Suisse: 5% of workforce

6. Apple: Hiring freeze

7. Disney: Hiring freeze

Unemployment is set to skyrocket.

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) November 14, 2022

Amazon’s job cuts were announced the same week as Jeff Bezos said he would donate much of his net worth to charities fighting non-existent climate change.

Jeff Bezos put out a story saying he is going to donate his net worth to charity right before Amazon announced layoffs for over 10,000 employees. The timing 😂

— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) November 15, 2022

From The Hill:

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, plans to give away the majority of his fortune to charities focused on fighting climate change and supporting those working to unify humanity, according to a new interview with CNN.

Bezos’ net worth is around $124 billion, making him the fourth wealthiest person in the world. He currently serves as the executive chair of Amazon after stepping down as CEO in 2021.

In 1994, Bezos launched Amazon.com out of his garage in Seattle. Once an e-commerce website whose main mission was to sell books, the company has grown into a global commercial empire.

Bezos’ announcement marks the first time the billionaire said he plans to give away most of his money, although he did not disclose which specific charities he intends to support. Critics had previously called out Bezos for not signing onto the Giving Pledge, which calls on wealthy individuals to donate at least half of their fortune.