`Amazon is getting rid of more than 18,000 jobs, which is the most jobs it has ever gotten rid of.
The online giant, which has 1.5 million employees around the world, didn’t say which countries would be affected by the job cuts, but it did say that Europe would be one of them.
The consumer retail business and human resources will lose the most jobs.
Andy Jassy, the boss, said that the cuts were because of the “uncertain economy” and that the company had “hired quickly over several years.”
In a memo to the staff, he said, “We don’t take these decisions lightly, and we don’t underestimate how much they could change the lives of those affected.”
He said someone outside the company discovered the cuts because one of its employees told them.
‘Amazon on a diet.’
Amazon’s sales went up when people at home spent a lot of money online after the pandemic. But then they started to fall.
Tech companies are losing a lot of money because businesses are trying to save money, and people are spending less because the cost of living is rising.
Neil Saunders, the director of GlobalData Retail, said on Twitter that Amazon’s job cuts were “a big number” but that the company had hired about 743,000 more people since 2019. He said that some of these new hires were made during the flu outbreak because of “irrational exuberance.”
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and Salesforce, which makes business software that runs in the cloud, have also recently said they would cut many jobs.
Amazon has already said that it is cutting back on projects like the Echo (also known as Alexa) and delivery robots, which were cool but needed to make money.
I’ve heard that companies in Silicon Valley tend to hire talented people and pay them well, even if they are only needed after a period of time. The main reason for this is to keep them from working for a competitor. Big Tech needs to figure out how to keep up with this culture.
By January 18, the employees who will lose their jobs will know.
“More pain on the way”
The tech giant announced that it would cut jobs last year but didn’t say how many.
The company had already stopped hiring new people and expanding some of its warehouses because it said it had hired too many people during the pandemic.
Workers who lost their jobs and posted on LinkedIn say that Amazon started firing people as early as November.
People who worked for Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant, Luna cloud gaming platform, and Lab126, which makes the Kindle e-reader, posted on the BBC’s website.
It has also taken steps to shut down some parts of its business, such as canceling plans for a personal delivery robot.
Dan Ives of the investment firm Wedbush Securities said that he thinks customers will tighten their budgets and cause Amazon “more pain” in the future.
Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in the technology industry worldwide because sales are slowing, and people are getting more worried about an economic downturn.
Meta said in November that it would let go of 13% of its employees.
The social media company will lay off 11,000 of its 87,000 employees worldwide. This is the first time that the company has laid off a large number of people at once.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, said that the cuts were “the hardest changes we’ve ever made in the history of Meta.”
A lot of people were fired from Twitter before the news came out. When Elon Musk, a billionaire, took over the company in October, about half of the employees were fired.
Lay offs by Amazon kickstarted since November
Amazon has started firing people, according to posts on LinkedIn by people who have lost their jobs.
This week, it was reported that the company plans to cut 10,000 jobs, which is about 3% of its office staff.
Amazon didn’t answer right away when the BBC asked for a comment.
It comes at a time when the tech industry is laying off thousands of people because sales are slowing and people are getting more worried about a recession.
People who worked for Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant, the Luna cloud gaming platform, and Lab126, which made the Kindle e-reader, posted on the BBC website.
Because the company thought it had hired too many people during the pandemic, it had already put a hold on hiring and stopped some warehouse expansions.
It has also taken steps to stop doing business in some areas. For instance, it stopped working on a project to make a robot to bring packages to people’s homes.
Because online sales have slowed down, Amazon’s share price has dropped by more than 40% this year.
Other big tech companies have already said they will lay off many people to save money.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, said late last year that it would let go of 13% of its employees.
Read Also: Amazon founder Bezos pledges to give away most of his wealth
For the first time in its history, there will be a lot of layoffs, and 11,000 people will lose their jobs.
Soon after Elon Musk took over Twitter, it became clear that he would cut the number of employees by about half.
Microsoft, Stripe, and Salesforce, which makes cloud-based business software, all said they would let people go in 2021.