Amazon lays off retail staff across US, India and UK
Dubai: Amazon confirmed on October 7 that it had cut a small number of jobs, mainly in its Stores unit, which oversees the main e-commerce website. The layoffs came during Prime Big Deal Days, which ran on October 6 and 7. Staff learned of the cuts on October 6. Employees were told by email, and many discussed the layoffs on an internal Slack channel. Posts on that channel indicate that customer…
Amazon announced on October 7 that it had reduced its workforce in the US, India, and the UK, primarily in its retail Stores unit. The cuts coincided with Prime Big Deal Days, a promotional period for its e-commerce platform. Employees learned of the layoffs on October 6 via email and discussed them on internal communication channels.
Reports suggest customer service and selling partner services teams, as well as marketplace support and engineering roles, were impacted. The news came as Amazon's Great Indian Festival sale commenced, drawing additional attention to the job cuts. The reductions follow a series of smaller layoffs, including a significant round of 30,000 job losses that began last year and continued into January.
Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, attributed the continued cuts to pandemic-related overhiring and the need to streamline operations, redirecting resources towards artificial intelligence. While Amazon plans to invest $220 billion in data centers and AI infrastructure, the company has reduced its retail arm's workforce to manage costs. The extent of the layoffs remains unclear, with Amazon unwilling to disclose the number of positions affected in each country or whether further cuts are planned.
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