Amazon layoffs affect workers in robotics, grocery, medical, AWS units

by Amazon More than 18,000 jobs cut announced this month is being felt widely across the company’s broad operations, from physical retail and grocery technology to robotics and drone delivery, even in the cloud.

That’s according to a spreadsheet created following the layoff notice of an employee, who encouraged those affected to submit their information for use by employers. The database, widely circulated on LinkedIn, provides information on businesses that have been laid off.

CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a blog post in early January that “several teams” were affected but The cuts will mainly focus on Amazon’s worldwide stores and human resources departments. Beyond that, the company has provided few details on where the downsizing will take place.

An Amazon spokesperson pointed to CNBC Jassy’s blog post about the layoffs.

Subsequent filings with state agencies provide a glimpse into the geographic dispersion of layoffs. In Washington state, home to Amazon, at least 2,300 employees have lost their jobs, according to a Worker Retraining and Adjustment Notice (WARN) filing. Records show that more than 500 took place in California, including the engineering and recruiting departments, while about 300 were in New York.

When Amazon reports fourth-quarter results on Thursday, executives are likely to face questions regarding headcount cuts and the expected financial impact. By analyst estimates, revenue growth is expected to slow to 6% and stay in single digits through the final stretch of 2023, when Amazon takes into account recession threats. recession and a drop in consumer spending.

amazon shares lose half of its value in 2022, the worst year for shareholders since the dot-com crash of 2000.

The latest wave of layoffs, billed as the largest in Amazon’s history, comes after more than a decade of uncontrolled growth and the expansion of the company’s network of fulfillment centers. . Jassy blamed the need for cuts on “labour shortages, supply chain difficulties, inflation and skyrocketing productivity as a result of growing our transportation and fulfillment network significantly during this time.” pandemic period.”

Here’s a breakdown of where job cuts take place. CNBC has verified that the employees listed as Amazon employees have worked for the company.

The employees work on various retail technologies, including Amazon’s cashierless checkout software called Just Walk Out, palm-based checkout service, and Dash smart carts that are part of the company. layoff period. unit has just moved for Amazon’s cloud computing division after it was previously placed under its retail organization.

There have been cuts in Fresh stores and online grocery delivery businesses for people working as program managers, store designers, supply chain managers and software engineers.

Amazon Go and Go Grocery’s cashierless convenience stores and supermarkets have also been laid off.

AWS pioneered the cloud infrastructure market, allowing businesses to offload server and storage needs, and pay by subscription and usage. Parts now create $80 billion in annual sales and most of the company’s entire profits.

Among those who lost their jobs were software development engineer, senior program manager, account representative, cloud architect and quality assurance engineer.

AWS CEO Adam Selipsky speak In an interview late last year at the company’s annual Reinvent customer conference that “we see some customers tightening their belts right now.”

The company’s payments organization, which oversees units such as online payment processing service Amazon Pay, was also fired. Engineers, product managers and employees working for the company Venmo payment integration were among those fired.

The cuts include employees working in various Amazon healthcare services. Amazon Pharmacy, the online pharmacy show in 2020, saw job cuts for program managers, risk compliance managers, and payments managers. Additionally, employees working on digital health tools and the Halo health and fitness tracker have lost their jobs.

Amazon has faced many challenges in its attempt to disrupt the healthcare market. The company said last year that it was ending telehealth and the two founders of the online pharmacy PillPack, which Amazon bought in 2018, announced their departure. Hundreds of employees have let’s go in 2022 between a division called Amazon Care and Care Medical, an independent company that has contracted to work with Amazon.

Affected retailers include supply chain optimization technology, pricing, supplier management, Amazon Shopping apps, and Amazon’s business-to-business marketplace. The cut also includes fashion stylists, who have been providing clothing recommendations to Amazon shoppers as part of a “try before you buy” service, formerly known as main wardrobe.