Summary

• Amazon India employees report emotional distress due to layoffs.
• 18,000 employees globally are affected, citing uncertain economy and rapid hiring as reasons.
• Layoffs come amid similar downsizing by technology firms and startups post pandemic

According to a post on an online employee community platform, Grapevine, Amazon India employees are experiencing emotional distress after being informed of their termination. An anonymous employee wrote on the platform, "75% of my team is gone. Although I am in the remaining 25%, I don’t feel motivated to work. They are firing people in cabins. People are crying in the office." Amazon recently announced that it will lay off over 18,000 employees starting January 18th, citing an uncertain economy and rapid hiring as reasons behind the job cuts.

The layoffs come amid numerous other technology firms and startups downsizing their workforce after the pandemic years led to these companies hiring in huge numbers. The 18,000 job cuts were more than what was announced last November when Amazon first said it plans to lay off 10,000 employees. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated in an email to staff that several teams have been impacted, but the majority of role eliminations are in Amazon Stores and PXT (People Experience and Technology Solutions) teams. He further stated that Amazon was “deeply aware these role eliminations are difficult for people, and we don't take these decisions lightly”.

India firings

ET had reported in November that the e-tailer was looking to cut jobs in here as well. Last year, it shut some of its relatively smaller businesses in India like food delivery, wholesale distribution, and Amazon Academy, as part of a larger restructuring.

In an interview with ET in December, Amazon's consumer business country manager for India - Manish Tiwary - had said the firm was only relooking at experiments here and not shutting businesses and that it remains committed to the local market. Tiwary also added that the local arm of the Seattle-based firm would double down on its investments in its business-to-business (B2B) marketplace, pharmacy, grocery, and social commerce in 2023.

According to a report by Indian news agency PT last week, the India layoff figures would be around 1,000. "The decision to eliminate 18,000 job roles across the globe will impact about 1,000 employees in India," the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

ETtech has reached out to Amazon India for a response on the employee comments made on Grapevine.