Amazon began notifying 16,000 company employees on January 28 that their jobs had been cut. A companywide memo from Human Resources Director Beth Galetti talked about “reducing hierarchy and eliminating bureaucracy,” but conveniently sidestepped one key detail: which teams were actually at fault.Internal Slack messages and executive memos obtained by Business Insider are now filling in those gaps, revealing layoffs are spreading across both the company’s prized cloud computing division and its core retail business. Many of the affected employees posted on internal channels seeking leads and held software engineering roles.
AWS and retail teams hit hardest
According to Business Insider, the affected teams span both Amazon’s cloud computing division and retail operations. Within Amazon Web Services, layoffs are affecting employees in Bedrock (the company’s AI cloud service), Redshift (data warehousing platform), and ProServe consulting division.In the retail division, the Prime subscription service and last mile delivery experience teams were also cut. Many of the employees who posted on internal Slack channels seeking job openings were in software engineering roles.The layoffs are hitting workers across the US, UK and India, and will be notified on Wednesday morning. Those affected received an email informing them that their badge access was immediately restricted. This means that some employees currently in Amazon offices will require security assistance to exit the building.
Employees will have 90 days to find a new role. Otherwise
Affected U.S.-based employees will receive full pay and benefits for 90 days, during which time they can apply for positions within the company. Those who fail to find a new job or choose not to look for a job receive severance pay, outplacement services, and health insurance benefits.An internal FAQ obtained by Business Insider provides additional details. Employees must return their laptops in a shipping box sent to them after their separation date and must complete a questionnaire about collecting personal items from their desks by February 13th. Unclaimed items will be donated or disposed of.
Amazon’s ambition to be the world’s biggest startup
An internal memo from Amazon executives outlines the cuts needed for the company to operate like “the world’s largest startup,” in the words of its CEO. Andy Jassytelephone card.“That means doubling down on our culture of ownership, speed, and experimentation, which requires us to continue to evolve our organizational structure,” AWS Vice President Prasad Kalyanaraman wrote in one such memo.This is Amazon’s second mass layoff since October, when 14,000 roles were cut. The company employs more than 1.5 million people worldwide, of which approximately 350,000 are corporate employees.