It’s the holiday season under President Joe Biden’s U.S. economy, and these days, that means hard times are ahead for tens of thousands of employed Americans.
Continuing a trend that seems to be hitting several Big Tech and related industries, online mega-retailer Amazon is expected to begin laying off a large contingent of its workers, to the tune of possibly 20,000 employees, in the coming months, according to ComputerWorld.
The outlet cited an anonymous source with reported knowledge of the incoming mass layoffs. Still, as it noted, the source’s info lines up with a November New York Times report that hinted the online shopping giant is set to make massive personnel changes, though, in that report, it was suggested that the number could be 10,000.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy responded to the Times’ piece after publication, confirming in a statement to employees that layoffs are in the works.
“Our annual planning process extends into the new year, which means there will be more role reductions as leaders continue to make adjustments. Those decisions will be shared with impacted employees and organizations early in 2023,” Jassy said.
Whether it’s 10,000 or 20,000, it’s too many, especially for one of the most popular retailers, and especially because it’s going to take place around the holidays. Talk about a nasty Christmas present from Jeff Bezos.
The report noted that Amazon employees are ranked on a scale from 1 to 7, and the layoffs will reportedly affect employees at all levels. However, further details were not available at the time of this writing.
ComputerWorld’s anonymous source reportedly said that affected corporate-level Amazon employees will learn their fate via a “24-hour notice,” and will be offered severance pay packages.
“There is a sense of fear among employees in the company as the news has come out,” said one source who was told directly about the layoff effort. The report also noted that the the layoffs would be the largest staff reduction in the company’s history.
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“There is no specific department or location mentioned for the cuts; it is across the business. We were told this is as a result of over-hiring during the pandemic and the need for cost-cutting as the company’s financials have been on a declining trend,” the source reportedly added.
An Amazon spokesperson responded to ComputerWorld’s report, saying it couldn’t confirm how many people Bezos will ultimately let go.
“We haven’t concluded yet exactly how many other roles will be impacted (we know that there will be reductions in our Stores and PXT organizations), but each leader will communicate to their respective teams when we have the details nailed down,” the Amazon spokesperson said.
The Amazon situation came on the heels of a large number of layoffs at other tech firms, such as Twitter and Meta, which many believe to be a telling signal or barometer of what’s happening in President Biden’s job economy.
BREAKING: Amazon plans to lay off roughly 10k staff this week
It’s been a brutal year for layoffs in tech. pic.twitter.com/lTnfZVDL1o
— Margot Rubin (@margot_rubin) November 14, 2022
A recent NBC News report said the same about the tech industry’s recent layoff rounds. Of course, it didn’t blame Biden directly, but it cited many situations happening on Biden’s watch, such as rising inflation and skyrocketing interest rates.
Biden’s mouthpieces obviously won’t cite such data, as they’re constantly spinning bad economic news into something palatable. But the numbers speak for themselves.
It’s a simple concept.
When economies are healthy, companies like Amazon, Twitter and Meta add jobs. When economies are sick, those same companies will opt to trim the fat and tighten belts.
Hopefully, this is the worst of it, but the way things are going, it wouldn’t be a safe bet to place. One can only imagine the stress and fear of wondering whether or not one’s job will be cut as companies look for more ways to stay in the black in Biden’s struggling economy.
