Amazon, the online giant which employs 1.5 million people worldwide, did not specify which nations will be affected by the job losses but did mention that Europe would be one of them.
The company’s consumer retail business and human resources section will be where the majority of job cuts occur.
Boss Andy Jassy blamed the cuts on the “uncertain economy,” claiming that the company has “hired quickly over several years.”
In a memo to staff, he stated, “We don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might touch the lives of those who are impacted.”
He claimed that one of the company’s employees had leaked the layoffs to the public , prompting the early announcement.
“Companies that last a long time go through different phases. They’re not in heavy people expansion mode every year,” he added.
After experiencing a commercial boom during the pandemic, when customers were stranded at home and spent a lot online, Amazon has seen sales decrease.
Tech companies are being impacted by a potent combination of falling advertising income as a result of corporations cutting costs and consumers cutting down on spending as the cost of living issue bites.
Both Salesforce, a provider of cloud-based commercial software, and Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, have also announced significant layoffs.
Amazon has already disclosed that it will scale back on initiatives like the Echo, also known as Alexa, and delivery robots, which were merely nice-to-haves but didn’t generate any revenue.
According to anecdotal evidence, companies in Silicon Valley often acquire and retain exceptional employees at appealing pay even when they are not urgently needed in order to prevent them from joining competitors. The major IT industry can no longer afford to support this culture.
It is anticipated that Amazon will notify affected employees by January 18th.
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