In an attempt to save costs, Amazon announced they are planning to cut over 18,000 jobs from their payroll.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced the layoffs in a memo sent to staff. In it he said, “We don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted.”
Many of those to be let-go are associated with retail and human resource departments.
Jassy also noted “uncertain economy” as being the one of the main reasons for the impending cutbacks. He continued in his letter, “Companies that last a long time go through different phases. They’re not in heavy people expansion mode every year.”
Analyst Neil Saunders noted that Amazon has hired around 743,000 people since 2019. And, the 18,000 people expected to be cut is a small amount when compared to the 1.5 million people they employ globally.
Since Joe Biden has taken office, American has witnessed a continued increase in inflationary pressures in the market. This has forced the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates, in an attempt to curb the rise in costs.
However, many have pointed to Biden’s economic policies and federal spending as having contributed to uncertainty in the economy.
