Amazon is set to begin a round of lay-offs ultimately affecting more than 18,000 employees in the largest job cull in its history, which it announced earlier this month.
The cuts come as the retailer grapples with slowing online sales growth and braces for a possible recession affecting the spending power of its customers.
Amazon employs some 5,000 people in the State, but there have been no indications to date that substantial cuts to the Irish operation are likely. The Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney said earlier this month that the Government had at that stage received no collective redundancy notification from the company.
The eliminations at the group started last year and initially fell hardest on Amazon’s Devices and Services group, which builds the Alexa digital assistant and Echo smart speakers. The latest round, scheduled to commence on Wednesday, will mostly affect the retail division and human resources.
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While the cuts represent only about 1 per cent of the total workforce, which includes hundreds of thousands of hourly warehouse and delivery personnel, they amount to about 6 per cent of Amazon’s 350,000 corporate employees around the globe.
“Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so, chief executive Andy Jassy said earlier this month in a memo to employees. “These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure.
Amazon shares were little changed in pre-market trading before exchanges opened in New York after closing down 2.1 per cent at $96.05 on Tuesday.
The world’s largest online retailer spent much of last year adjusting to a sharp slowdown in ecommerce growth as shoppers returned to pre-pandemic habits. Amazon delayed warehouse openings and halted hiring in its retail group. It broadened the freeze to the company’s corporate staff and then began making cuts.
Amazon is among several large tech companies that are trimming their ranks. – Bloomberg
