Amazon CEO says layoffs will extend into next year
According to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on Thursday, the massive layoffs that started this week in Amazon’s corporate ranks will continue into the following year. Jassy claimed that the business informed workers in its electronics and books divisions about layoffs on Wednesday.
He said that a voluntary buyout offer was also made to a few other employees.
Jassy stated, “I’ve been in this post for almost a year and a half now, and without a question, this is the most difficult choice we’ve made in that time (and, we’ve had to make some extremely terrible choices over the previous two of years, notably during the core of the pandemic).
Amazon, based in Seattle, has been reducing expenses in a number of sectors of its business over the past few months. Currently, it is going through an annual review process to determine where it can save additional money. As a result of the current economic climate and the company’s aggressive hiring over the past few years, Jassy claimed that this year’s review is “more tough.” Amid worries about an economic slowdown, other tech companies, many of which had gone on hiring sprees in the previous few years, have also begun reducing their personnel.
Facebook’s parent company Meta, among others, announced this week that it will fire 11,000 employees or around 13% of its staff. Additionally, this month, Elon Musk, the new CEO of Twitter, cut the workforce in half.
Although several based in Seattle said they had also been let go, the firm has not publicly announced how many employees it let off this week throughout its full corporate workforce.
According to Jassy, the business hasn’t decided how many additional positions will be impacted. He said that when the business goes through its yearly assessment process, which will last into the following year, there may be reductions in some departments. He claimed that while they consider job losses, company management will give top priority to what is best for customers and the long-term success of the business. Severance packages are available from Amazon for staff members leaving the organisation. But it hasn’t made information about the software publicly available, unlike Meta, for instance.
