Amazon to lay off up to 18,000 employees

This Wednesday, Amazon announced job cuts of up to 18,000 employees, attributing the decision to the current economic outlook and uncertainty. In 2020, with the onset of the pandemic, the company began an exponential hiring process, reaching a number of workers that it cannot maintain today.

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, was in charge of announcing the most significant workforce reduction in the company's history. The CEO said he was "aware" of how hard these decisions are for employees and that it was not a measure taken "lightly."

Jassy also said that it is seeking to achieve "a more solid cost structure" to meet new challenges. In this sense, he conveyed that the balance of the last year was more complex due to the current problems of the economy worldwide.

Personnel doubling in a pandemic

Amazon, which had already anticipated a 10,000-worker cut last November, is looking to return to their pre-pandemic headcount numbers. With the emergence of covid-19 and widespread blockades around the world, the company had to hire large numbers of employees to meet the growing demand for online purchases.

Between 2020 and 2022 , the company doubled its global workforce. At the end of September, Amazon had 1.54 million workers worldwide, not counting temporary contracts used during peak periods or the holiday season.