Amazon begins layoffs of 18,000 workers by informing them by email

2023-01-20

Amazon coldly began its layoff of 18,000 workers by informing them by EMAIL and cutting off their access to work computers: ‘Unfortunately, your role has been eliminated’

Around 18,000 Amazon workers were let go via email in a new round of cuts
They woke up Wednesday to a note telling them their ‘role has been eliminated’
The employees were also cut off from access to their offices and computers
Layoffs come just after Microsoft announced 10,000 workers were losing jobs

Thousands of Amazon workers woke up Wednesday morning to a brutal email from their employer informing them their role had ‘been eliminated’ effective immediately.

Around 18,000 staff were let go in the latest round of job cuts first announced by CEO Andy Jassy in November.

Soon after the Seattle-based company sent out the emails, many employees’ access to work computers and offices was also cut off, Business Insider revealed.

‘Unfortunately, your role has been eliminated,’ the email from an HR executive within the e-commerce giant read. ‘You are no longer required to perform any work on Amazon’s behalf effective immediately,’ it later added.

The layoffs are the latest in a series of cost cutting moves by Amazon and the wider tech industry – and come just days after Microsoft announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs, mirroring similar moves at Meta and Twitter.

The cuts were first announced by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in November

Amazon is just one of several tech companies who have made major cuts in recent weeks and months

The email sent out to Amazon employees, obtained by Business Insider, came from Beth Galetti, the senior vice president of People Experience & Technology.

The HR boss said the cut jobs are ‘not a decision that was made lightly’ and called the cost-cutting move a ‘difficult step.’

Five employees who spoke to Insider shared the email in its entirety as well as details surrounding the layoff, including how some employees immediately lost access to their office badges and work computers.

The workers did not wish to be named but the outlet said it had ‘verified their identity.’

‘Everyone is pretty upset,’ one of the former-Amazon workers told Insider. ‘We just woke up to an email today,’ they continued in disbelief.

The email came from Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology

The employees were told they will only receive updates from the company through non-Amazon devices going forward

The employees said their work email addresses and the app Amazon uses for videoconferencing to their own personal electronic devices

The large group of workers were told they will only receive updates from the company through non-Amazon devices going forward.

To make matters worse, the employees said that requires them to add their work email addresses and the app Amazon uses for videoconferencing to their own personal electronic devices.

‘Our primary mode of communication will be through internal email on your non-Amazon device,’ Galetti wrote in the email.

Amazon’s spokesperson declined comment, according to Insider.

The company had previously announced the layoffs but declined to share a breakdown of exactly where the cuts would be a made.

But Insider reported that some workers spent time Wednesday compiling lists of employees who have lost their jobs and what team they worked in.

Galetti said employees affected will have follow up meetings with their team leaders. They will also receive their full pay and benefits for the next 60 days (90 days in New York state), plus an additional severance package.

EMAIL SENT TO AMAZON STAFF

Subject: Important information about your role

Today we are taking the very difficult step of reducing roles across several of our businesses. Unfortunately, your role has been eliminated.

This is not a decision that was made lightly, and we are committed to providing support to ease the transition out of Amazon, including a separation payment, transitional benefits as applicable by country, and external job placement services.

You likely have many questions and we are here to answer them. We are offering information sessions for U.S., Canada and Costa Rica, in which we’ll review details related to today’s announcement. Please see below for meeting details. You’ll also receive an invitation to a personal conversation with your leadership so that you have an opportunity to discuss the specifics of your transition and how we can best support you.

During this transition period, our primary mode of communication will be through internal email on your non-Amazon device. Importantly, access to your Amazon laptop will be restricted later today, so please take the time now to add Amazon email to your non-Amazon personal device, as well as the Chime and AtoZ apps for ease of access to important information and resources. Access to internal email, Chime, and AtoZ will be available on your non-Amazon device throughout the remainder of your tenure. You can download the AtoZ app on your mobile device via the Apple and Google app stores or on your personal laptop via [link]. Instructions to download Chime can be found here.

You are no longer required to perform any work on Amazon’s behalf effective immediately and will receive your full pay and benefits for the next 60 days (90 days in New York state), plus an additional severance package.

Some of the most important FAQs are included below, including how to retrieve any personal belongings from your workspace and how to return your Amazon-issued equipment, and a more complete list is available in the employee resource center on AtoZ, where you’ll also find important information and resources.

We are here to support you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to My HR with questions and remember you can reach out to the Employee Assistance Portal (EAP) for free and confidential help 24/7.

Thank you, Beth Galetti

SVP, People Experience & Technology

Since November, the company has announced 18,000 jobs cut.

The trend matches those among other tech giants such as Microsoft and Meta.

Amazon’s cuts reflect similar ones at companies like Microsoft and Meta

Microsoft on Wednesday began laying off 10,000 employees, nearly five percent of its workforce.

The most in-demand workers right now are blue collar employees, while white-collar workers have seen major job losses in the last year.

The phenomenon has been dubbed ‘richcession’ by those in the field.

In a memo to employees, CEO Satya Nadella said the layoffs would end in March.

In a memo to employees, CEO Satya Nadella said the layoffs, affecting nearly 5 percent of the workforce, would begin on Wednesday and conclude by the end of March

‘We’re living through times of significant change,’ wrote Nadella, adding that ‘parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one.’

Nadella said customers wanted to ‘optimize their digital spend to do more with less’ and ‘exercise caution as some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one.’

‘While we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas,’ he wrote.

One analyst with Wedbush Securities said the layoffs, while uncomfortable, are necessary for companies who want to see maintain profits.

‘This is a rip the band-aid off moment to preserve margins and cut costs in a softer macro, a strategy the Street will continue to applaud,’ said analyst Dan Ives.

Tech job cuts – including mass layoffs at Meta and Twitter – are accelerating

In recent months, a slew of tech companies have announced cost-cutting measures, with Amazon, Apple and Google-parent Alphabet all announcing hiring slowdowns or freezes.

For the tech sector, the pandemic boom has turned to a post-pandemic bust, as rising interest rates batter share prices and inflation cuts into profits.

The sector shed 9,587 jobs in October, the highest monthly total since November 2020, according to data from consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas cited by Bloomberg.

Total job cuts announced by US-based employers jumped 13 percent to 33,843 in October, the highest since February 2021, a report said.

Twitter

Twitter laid off half its workforce across teams ranging from communications and content curation to product and engineering following Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover.

The cutbacks affected roughly 3,700 employees, who learned their fate by email last week.

However, Bloomberg reported Twitter was reaching out to dozens of employees who lost their jobs, asking them to return.

Twitter laid off half its workforce across teams ranging from communications and content curation to product and engineering

Musk previously said there was no other choice but to impose mass layoffs as the company loses hundreds of millions of dollars every year and needs a financial overhaul

Salesforce

In January, cloud-based software company Salesforce announced it will layoff 10 percent of its employees or about 8,000 workers.

CEO Marc Benioff cited a rough period for the tech sector as well as over-hiring during COVID-19 leading to the decision.

Several weeks ago, it quietly laid off hundreds of employees.

‘Our sales performance process drives accountability. Unfortunately, that can lead to some leaving the business, and we support them through their transition,’ a Salesforce spokesperson told CNBC in a statement several weeks ago.

Salesforce had 73,541 employees at the beginning of last year – it is the largest employer in the San Francisco area.

The company said in an August filing that headcount rose 36 percent in the past year ‘to meet the higher demand for services from our customers.’

Amazon

Amazon said it would layoff 18,000 corporate and technology jobs what will be the largest job cuts in the company’s history.

The move comes as the company reportedly lost $1trillion over the year after its stock plummeted from a high during the pandemic.

If the company goes through with its proposal to cut 10,000 jobs, it would lose about 3 percent of Amazon’s corporate employees

The move comes after the company put a hiring freeze in place, affecting major teams including Prime Video, Alexa and Amazon Fresh.

‘We’re facing an unusual macroeconomic environment, and want to balance our hiring and investments with being thoughtful about this economy,’ Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon, wrote in a memo, which was seen by the Wall Street Journal.

Intel

Intel Corp’s CEO Pat Gelsinger told Reuters ‘people actions’ would be part of a cost-reduction plan.

The chipmaker said recently it would reduce costs by $3 billion in 2023, then ramping that up to $10 billion by 2025.

The adjustments would start in the fourth quarter, Gelsinger said, but did not specify how many employees would be affected.

Some Intel divisions, including the sales and marketing group, could be cut by up to 20 percent, Bloomberg News reported last month, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

Chipmaker Intel is reportedly planning major layoffs, likely numbering in the thousands, in the face of a slowdown in the personal computer market

The company had 113,700 employees as of July, when it slashed its annual sales forecast by $11 billion after missing estimates for second-quarter results.

Intel, based in Santa Clara, California declined to comment on the job cuts when reached by DailyMail.com in October.

Intel has been battered by shifting market trends, including the decline of traditional personal computers as smartphones and tablets rise in popularity.

Last quarter, global PC shipments, including desktops and laptops, declined another 15 percent from a year ago, according to IDC.

Microsoft

Microsoft in January initiated layoffs of 10,000 employees, citing slowing customer demand and a negative economic environment.

‘We’re also seeing organizations in every industry and geography exercise caution as some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one,’ CEO Satya Nadella said in a company memo.

The layoffs affected nearly 5 percent of Microsoft’s global workforce.

Microsoft previously laid off under 1,000 employees across several divisions last year, according to Axios.

In a statement, Microsoft executives said: ‘Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly.

Microsoft laid off under 1,000 employees across several divisions last month, according to Axios

‘We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead.’

Microsoft executives previously announced in July that it was laying off less than 1 percent of its workforce and significantly slow hiring, as its revenue fell short of investor expectations.

The company recorded only $51.9 billion in revenue during the second quarter of the year, but was expected to rake in $52.4 billion.

It had previously recorded blockbuster growth during the COVID pandemic, when consumers and businesses turned to its products as they shifted to a work-from-home model.

Lyft

Ride-hailing firm Lyft said it would lay off 13 percent of its workforce, or about 683 employees, after it already cut 60 jobs earlier this year and froze hiring in September.

Lyft said in a regulatory filing it would likely incur $27 to $32 million in restructuring charges related to the layoffs.

‘We are not immune to the realities of inflation and a slowing economy,’ Lyft’s founders wrote in the memo to staffers.

Ride-hailing firm Lyft said it would lay off 13 percent of its workforce, or about 683 employees, after it already cut 60 jobs earlier this year

The company’s share price has fallen 76 percent since the beginning of the year and currently stands at around $10, compared to nearly $45 in January.

Announcing the job cuts in a memo seen by the Wall Street Journal, Lyft founders John Zimmer and Logan Green told staff: ‘There are several challenges playing out across the economy.

‘We’re facing a probable recession sometime in the next year and rideshare insurance costs are going up.

‘We worked hard to bring down costs this summer: we slowed, then froze hiring; cut spending; and paused less-critical initiatives.

‘Still, Lyft has to become leaner, which requires us to part with incredible team members.’

Lyft has about 4,000 employees, not including its drivers.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told CBS Mornings on Monday he plans to freeze hiring

Apple

Though Apple has not yet announced any major layoffs, CEO Tim Cook told CBS Mornings that it is slowing some hiring as well.

‘What we’re doing as a consequence of being in this period, is we’re being very deliberate in our hiring,’ he said. ‘That means we’re continuing to hire, but not everywhere in the company are we hiring.’

At the same time, though, Cook said ‘we don’t believe you can save your way to prosperity.”

‘We think you invest your way to it,’ he said.

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