The year has started on a sombre note for professionals working in the IT sector. In the ongoing tech companies layoff season, Amazon has begun the second phase of firing staff, according new report published by The Verge.
At the time of the pandemic, Amazon had hired a large amount of global manpower, which it will trim in 2023.
By the end of 2021, the company’s global employment has increased from 798,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019 to over 1.6 million.
And in the first month of January, the process has already begun as Amazon is notifying the employees who will be affected by its latest wave of layoffs. It is anticipated that the global online shopping company will cut down 18,000 workers in this phase.
Although the exact number of employees affected in this round is not yet known, The Verge claims that the firm has already cut down the size of its staff by giving marching orders to 2,300 workers in Washington, a majority of whom were employed in Seattle, home to one of the company’s offices.
It is also reported that nearly 1,000 Amazon India workers are on the axe for layoff.
In November of last year, Amazon began its initial round of layoffs of approximately 10,000 workers, including employees from its hardware and services, human resources, and retail divisions.
The company acknowledged the vast scope of the layoffs earlier this month, stating that they would affect 18,000 employees in total, including those from last year, Wednesday’s wave, and probable future reductions in 2023.
Employees who might be affected were going to be informed starting on Wednesday, according to a memo from CEO Andy Jassy published on the business’ website.
In a statement, Jassy stated that the annual planning process was still ongoing and that “I anticipated there will be more role reductions in early 2023.”
However, Amazon is not the sole IT company. There are other tech companies reducing their workforces besides Amazon. Amidst a worsening economic slump, businesses including Salesforce, Meta, and Twitter have drastically reduced their headcounts.
Yesterday, Sky News reported that Satya Nadella-run Microsoft is “finalising plans to become the latest technology giant to reduce its workforce during a global economic slowdown by reducing 11,000 employees.”
