Amazon cutting 9,000 workers, third mass layoff in months

After cutting tens of thousands of jobs in less than a year, Amazon is scaling back its staffing levels even more.

In a memo to employees on March 20, CEO Andy Jassy said the e-commerce giant plans to “eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks — mostly in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch.”

“Some may ask why we didn’t announce these role reductions with the [18,000] we announced a couple months ago,” Jassy said.

“The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their [operational] analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to share these decisions as we’ve made them so people had the information as soon as possible.”

He added that the affected teams are still finalizing which roles will be impacted.

“Once those decisions have been made (our goal is to have this complete by mid to late April), we will communicate with the impacted employees (or where applicable in Europe, with employee representative bodies).”

The latest round of job cuts comes roughly a month after the company announced that most of its employees will be required to spend at least three days a week at their respective offices beginning on May 1.

According to LinkedIn, Amazon employs a total workforce of more than 818,000 people.

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Major tech layoffs continue

Amazon isn’t the only major North American tech company that has announced deep job cuts to kick off 2023.

Several big names, including Meta, Alphabet, Dell, Clearco, Hootsuite, Microsoft, and Salesforce, have laid off thousands of employees as they continue to navigate challenging economic conditions.

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Termination agreements for Amazon employees

As part of the layoff announcement, Jassy said affected Amazon employees will receive packages that include “a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support.”

In Canada, non-unionized workers at the e-commerce giant are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing or corporate restructuring.

This includes individuals working full-time, part-time, or hourly in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

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• Severance for technology industry employees
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WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper severance if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you don’t receive the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.