Amazon layoffs hit workers in robotics, grocery, health, AWS units

on Feb1
by | Comments Off on Amazon layoffs hit workers in robotics, grocery, health, AWS units |

The Amazon headquarters sits virtually empty on March 10, 2020 in downtown Seattle, Washington. In response to the coronavirus outbreak, Amazon recommended all employees in its Seattle office to work from home, leaving much of downtown nearly void of people.

John Moore | Getty Images

Amazon’s 18,000-plus job cuts announced this month are being felt broadly across the company’s sprawling operations, from physical retail technology and grocery stores to robotics and drone delivery, and even in cloud computing.

That’s according to a spreadsheet created after the layoff announcement by an employee, who has encouraged those affected to submit their information for use by recruiters. The database, which was circulated widely on LinkedIn, provides a window into the businesses hit with layoffs.

CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a blog post in early January that “several teams” were impacted but that the cuts would primarily be centered in Amazon’s worldwide stores and human resources divisions. Beyond that, the company provided scant details on where downsizing would take place.

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

Subsequent filings with state agencies offered a glimpse into the geographical dispersal of the layoffs. In Amazon’s home state of Washington, at least 2,300 employees lost their jobs, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filings. Over 500 took place in California, including in engineering and recruiting divisions, while roughly 300 were in New York, filings show.

When Amazon reports fourth-quarter results on Thursday, executives are likely to face questions regarding the headcount reductions and the expected financial impact. Revenue growth is expected to sink to 6% and remain in single digits until the final period of 2023, according to analyst estimates, as Amazon reckons with the threats of a recession and a decline in consumer spending.

Amazon shares lost half their value in 2022, the worst year for shareholders since the dot-com crash in 2000.

The latest wave of layoffs, which is poised to be largest round of cuts in Amazon’s history, follow more than a decade of unbridled growth and massive expansion in the company’s network of fulfillment centers. Jassy blamed the need for cuts on “labor shortages, supply chain difficulties, inflation, and productivity overhang from growing our fulfillment and transportation networks so substantially during the pandemic.”

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

Grocery and Physical stores

Zappos

Online shoe seller Zappos joined Amazon via acquisition in 2009. Employees with titles including program manager, software engineer and product buyer were among those laid off.

Amazon Robotics

Amazon Robotics is the company’s unit focused on automating aspects of its warehouse operations. The division evolved out of Amazon’s acquisition of Kiva Systems, a manufacturer of warehouse robots, for $775 million in 2012.

Hardware development engineers, mechatronics engineers, network engineers, applied science managers, and technical product managers were part of the job cuts.

Amazon Web Services

AWS CEO Adam Selipsky on impact of slowing economy, cloud consumption

Operations

Amazon’s operations division serves as a catchall for many far-reaching units inside the company. The organization oversees Amazon’s sprawling fulfillment and delivery businesses, among other things.

Employees involved in fulfillment center expansion, warehouse IT management, package pickup and returns, delivery routing software, environmental health and safety, workplace health and safety, and shipping and delivery service Amazon Logistics were among those involved in the cuts.

Payments

Health care

Marketplace

Employees in Amazon’s third-party marketplace unit were among those whose jobs were cut. The business oversees the millions of sellers who hawk their wares on the website and app.

Staffers involved in third-party seller services, seller experience, seller financial technology, software development, and online seller communities were let go. Amazon Launchpad, a unit that assists new sellers, also experienced heavy cuts.

Real estate

Employees involved in construction and facilities planning, real estate transactions, disaster recovery, and physical stores development lost their jobs.

Retail

Prime Air

Amazon's layoffs are nothing more than a rewind back to where it was last year


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