The tech industry has been hit hard lately by massive layoffs, and it looks like they’re extending to Amazon. Following Twitter and Meta’s major layoffs in the thousands, Amazon is planning on laying off approximately 10,000 employees as well.
The upcoming job cuts are set to impact mostly corporate employees, specifically in the retail division, human resources, and the team working on devices like Alexa.
In the grand scheme of things, Amazon has over 1.5 million global employees, so 10,000 would amount to less than one percent of the total workforce. It’s a much smaller ratio when compared to Elon Musk‘s layoffs at Twitter that cut that workforce down by around 50 percent. Either way, 10,000 is a large figure.
Amazon’s job cuts will take place in waves rather than one mass layoff.
What Went Wrong at Amazon?
Much like the rest of the industry, companies overestimated their post-COVID figures, assuming that major growth seen during the pandemic/lockdown period would sustain and increase into the future. This led to companies hiring large numbers of people to take care of the growing responsibilities.
After COVID-19 lockdowns lifted and life has since largely returned to normal, shoppers are moving back to their standard purchasing rates. This has made Amazon’s stock fall by nearly 42 percent this year and pushed the company back below $1 trillion in value.
Amazon was in the news this week when founder Jeff Bezos stated that he intends to donate a majority of his wealth to charity before he dies. His current net worth sits at over $121 billion, making him the fourth richest man in the world.
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