- In November last year Amazon let go of an estimated 10 000 employees.
- Now the company has laid off a further 18 000 workers, most of which appear to be in the US.
- This follows a concerning trend in big tech, with Microsoft also reportedly preparing for mass layoffs this week.
The concerning trend in big tech we saw last year, with a number of high-profile mass layoffs, appears to have bled into 2023. This as Amazon is currently carrying out a second round of layoffs.
The company is notifying employees that they are being let go, having announced mass layoffs in November of last year. That initial round saw an estimated 10 000 people let go, although Amazon did not confirm a precise number.
The same applies here for the second round, although it is said to be nearly double the first one, with roughly 18 000 workers now being laid off, according to reports. The firings also appear to be limited to the United States alone, with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) system in Washington seeing as many as 2 300 employees now jobless.
It is unclear which divisions at the company are affected by these layoffs, or indeed if more are planned in the coming months, but a memo shared by CEO Andy Jassy in November noted that more cuts were in the works. He also added that they would take place from 18th January, which is in keeping with this latest development.
Amazon is not the only company preparing to let go of a vast number of employees either, with Microsoft reportedly readying to do the same. A figure of 11 000 jobs has been bandied about, as the purge in big tech looks set to continue.
To Amazon’s credit though, the people being let go will receive full pay and benefits for a 60-day non-working period, helping them while they try to find new jobs. Hopefully, all the people being let go land on their feet, as this is far from the best way to start the new year.
[Image – Photo by Sunrise King on Unsplash]
