Amazon, the world’s largest online mail order company, is planning the largest layoffs to date in light of the bleak economic outlook, US media reported. The group wants to start laying off around 10,000 people this week.
The New York Times wrote on Monday, citing insiders. Financial service Bloomberg later reported, according to its own sources. According to information from the Wall Street Journal, “thousands” of jobs are at stake. Amazon initially did not comment.
The next wave of layoffs
The group recently had approximately 1.5 million employees worldwide. Before Christmas, when Amazon often recruits staff, the layoffs could be another sign of the sudden end of the job boom in the tech industry.
The queue for companies to announce layoffs is getting longer and longer. For example, Facebook and Instagram mom Meta and online network Twitter, which was taken over by Tesla boss Elon Musk, have seen real layoffs lately.
According to reports, the layoffs at Amazon will primarily affect the device segment around the Echo smart speakers and the Alexa voice assistant program. The company had already warned investors of a weak last quarter and decided to halt hiring in early November amid rising inflation and recession risks.
Amazon is under pressure to cut costs after a spending attack amid the pandemic. Stocks are down more than 40 percent this year. (zis/SDA)