Amazon began laying off employees as of today. According to an anonymous source contacted by AIM, the company, led by Andy Jassy, has laid off the Amazon Robotics team. Jamie Zhang, a developer working with the team, posted a message on LinkedIn yesterday expressing shock at the sudden decision. Zhang mentioned that he had been working with AWS , the company’s business to build Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) pipelines. Amazon announced a hiring freeze a few days ago amid a difficult macroeconomic environment and a significant slowdown in the company’s core retail business as consumers return to shopping in conventional stores.
“Amazon’s hiring freeze sends a clear and unfortunate signal that the mood music of the retail and consumer economy is changing. The heady days of growth are now over and have given way to an environment in which more caution is needed to protect profits.” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said.
While details on Amazon India are not yet available, there are concerns that the spread effect could be seen in other regions.
Although the e-commerce giant’s revenue rose 15 percent in the third quarter, the numbers were below Wall Street forecasts, sending its stock down 13 percent. This is the second time in 2022 that Amazon’s results fell short of market expectations, leading to a double-digit percentage sell-off in the stock. In April, after the company released its second-quarter results, shares fell 14% due to a weak outlook.
Tech companies around the world are struggling with an economic slowdown as consumer spending loses momentum and higher interest rates signal an impending U.S. recession.