Image: © JHVEPhoto/Stock.adobe.com
Amid mass tech layoffs, Amazon also looks set to tighten its belt due to global economic issues.
Job losses across the tech sector look set to continue, with reports that Amazon plans to cut up to 10,000 staff across its global workforce.
The jobs cuts could come as early as this week, people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal cited a source that gave similar information.
If these job cuts go ahead, they will be the largest in Amazon’s history.
Amazon employs about 5,000 people in Ireland and more than 1.5m people globally. It is unclear how many Irish jobs could be cut.
Sources told the New York Times that the job losses will likely hit the company’s devices, retail and human resources divisions, with cuts expected to roll out team by team rather than all at once.
In its quarterly earnings report last month, Amazon predicted a fall in sales for its fourth quarter. The conservative forecast for the holiday season was seen as a possible signal for others to expect less consumer activity during a cost-of-living crisis.
In a letter to staff this month, Amazon VP for people experience and technology Beth Galetti confirmed that the company would freeze hiring for its corporate workforce, with plans to keep this freeze for the next few months.
“We’re facing an unusual macroeconomic environment, and want to balance our hiring and investments with being thoughtful about this economy,” Galetti said.
More tech layoffs
Amazon may become the latest tech company to reduce the size of its workforce as the sector reacts to issues in the global economy and a looming recession.
Yesterday (14 November), Intercom confirmed that it is reducing its global workforce by 13pc, with 39 employees in Ireland at risk of being made redundant.
Twitter made headlines for halving its headcount, while Meta announced significant job cuts last week. The parent company of Facebook is reducing the size of its global workforce by around 13pc, letting go more than 11,000 employees. There are approximately 3,000 Meta employees in Ireland, and around 350 jobs are said to be at risk.
There are also reports that Intel is planning to cut thousands of jobs worldwide amid a drop in PC sales, according to Bloomberg. The chipmaker employs roughly 4,900 people in Ireland.
Salesforce is making cutbacks, but it is unclear how many of its 2,100 Irish staff may be affected. Sources told the Business Post last week that the US company is expected to cut at least 80 staff from its Dublin office as part of the global layoffs.
These cuts come as a host of other tech companies have been laying off workers in recent months, including Stripe, Shopify, Snap, Patreon, Twilio and more.
With Irish workers being affected by the recent wave of job cuts, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar attempted to reassure tech professionals here that there is no sign of companies planning to fully close their Irish operations.
Following a meeting between IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland last week, Varadkar said that those who had lost their jobs as a result of these mass cuts would be assisted “as they seek alternative employment or other opportunities”.
He also said that the Government was “confident that all national employment rights requirements for consultation and notification of redundancies will be adhered to once decisions on any reductions in employment are made”.
10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.
