Amazon, the global e-commerce behemoth, is currently undertaking layoffs across multiple companies and positions in India, according to a report. This development comes after CEO Andy Jassy announced Amazon India layoffs in March, which affected roughly 9,000 employees.
Amazon, spent much of last year adapting to a dramatic slowdown in e-commerce growth as customers resumed their pre-pandemic habits. Amazon is one of several prominent tech companies, like Meta and Google, that are also reducing their workforce.
According to a report in a business publication, Amazon Digital Kendra, an e-commerce seller assistance feature, was decommissioned recently. As a result, personnel in that division have either been laid off or moved to other divisions of the corporation.
The report also stated that several seller onboarding services in tier-2 cities such as Kochi and Lucknow have also been closed as a part of the restructuring. However, there is a chance that Amazon Digital Kendra may be revamped and relaunched soon.
Over the past decade, Amazon has invested over $7 billion in its India business and competes hard with Walmart-backed Flipkart. Amazon is reportedly behind Flipkart and struggling to make inroads into smaller Indian cities and villages.
Employees in the tech industry have faced huge layoffs in 2023, as the prospect of a worldwide recession looms in the backdrop. Following a recruiting rush, internet companies around the world are scrambling to reduce their headcount in order to save money and assuage investor concerns.
This year, tech behemoths such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, IBM, and others have announced massive layoffs. Amazon chose to slash 9000 positions on March 20th, 2023, two months after revealing plans to lay off 18000 people, and a week after Meta reduced its worldwide staff by dismissing 10000 employees – about 13% of its international headcount. Over-hiring and revenue pressure are the most often claimed causes of layoffs by these organisations.
Likewise, Twitter stealthily laid off 10% of its global employees in February this year, following the previous year’s trend of fast reduction that began after Elon Musk’s raucous takeover in October 2022. While the digital behemoths have made news this year, medium and small tech firms have also been laying off employees.
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