Amazon plans to slash more than 18000 employees

Amazon said on Wednesday that it will be shedding more than 18,000 positions, a larger number than the e-commerce giant had predicted it would eliminate a year ago. Yet, Amazon said the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on the layoffs was premature and undermined its own announcement.

CEO Andy Jassy commented in a statement to staff that was published on the corporate blog, “We normally wait to comment about these outcomes until we can speak with the people who are directly impacted. However, one of our teammates released this information outside, so we believed it was better to convey this news early so you can hear the specifics straight from me.”

In 2023, IT firms are continuing the work they began the year before in anticipation of a protracted economic downturn. On Wednesday, Salesforce announced that they would be laying off 10% of their workforce, or more than 7000 people. Amazon and Salesforce have both come clean about hiring too quickly during the pandemic.

Considering the growing popularity of online shopping, Amazon has admitted that it hired too many warehouse workers too rapidly. At the close of the third quarter, the company had 1.54 million workers on staff.

Learn how to trade stocks with Top Forex and CFD brokers

This past November, Amazon’s Jassy announced that the company would be cutting jobs across the board, including in its brick-and-mortar locations, devices, and books. At the time, CNBC claimed that Amazon planned to lay off approximately 10,000 workers. The new figure is bigger than the old one.

The company “has weathered uncertain and harsh economies in the past, and we will continue to do so,” Jassy stated. Although I am confident that we will be imaginative, resourceful, and scrappy in this time when we are not hiring expansively and eliminating some roles, I do believe that these adjustments will help us pursue our long-term prospects with a stronger cost structure.

Starting on January 18th, Jassy said, Amazon will begin notifying staff members who will be laid off, with the majority of layoffs occurring in the retail and People, Experience, and Technology (PXT) departments.