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Amazon's layoffs will be bigger than previously reported. The online store giant from the United States will lay off more than 18,000 employees.
This layoff policy was announced directly by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in his memo to employees. The layoffs will target the majority of employees in Amazon's Store as well as People, Experience and Technology divisions.
In his e-mail, Jassy said employees affected by layoffs would be notified starting January 18. He added that this information had to be conveyed publicly because one of the employees leaked it externally.
Amazon will provide support to employees impacted by layoffs as well as providing severance pay, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support.
The number of employees who will be furloughed is far greater than previously circulated rumors. In November last year, the New York Times reported that Amazon plans to cut about 10,000 jobs.
Amazon currently has about 1.5 million employees, including those working in warehouses and corporates. The company created by Jeff Bezos is the second largest employer in the US after retail giant Walmart.
Amazon is one of the companies that has felt the biggest positive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, where many customers have been shopping online in droves. To meet the booming demand, Amazon is doubling its logistics network and hiring hundreds of thousands of employees.
In recent months, however, Amazon has begun to brace for slower growth as inflation forces businesses and consumers to spend less. They also began to streamline several teams and programs in the hardware and services division.
Amazon's layoffs are the largest ever by a technology company. Previously, Meta announced that it would lay off around 11,000 employees.