Amazon layoffs and withdrawn offers stunned tech employees

Amazon has long been one of the top employers in the tech industry. Online shopping was growing consistently, and Amazon’s two main revenue engines, cloud services and advertising, were growing even faster. If he got a white-collar job at Amazon, whether he was there for two years or he was there for 10 years, his career seemed set. Until last month.

In late November, Amazon launched what is expected to be the largest corporate layoff in its 28-year history, cutting up to 10,000 corporate employees, or about 3% of the company’s office staff. Rumors continue to circulate internally that the number of job cuts may increase, through traditional layoffs and the firing of more employees than usual due to poor performance. One publication reports that a 20,000 job reduction is the actual goal. Amazon has also quietly started canceling job offers for future employees. According to a leaked internal memo, seen exclusively by Recode, this is upending the lives of future staff and threatening the company’s reputation in the tech talent job market.

A company spokesperson confirmed that the job openings first reported by The Information were withdrawn, but declined to provide specific numbers. Current and future Amazon employees are equally shocked, even if they don’t know exactly how many offers the company has withdrawn. This underscores the scarcity of the current cost-cutting environment at the tech giants and raises the question of what these pullbacks might mean for the economy as a whole. Some employees inside the company wonder whether Amazon will prioritize pursuing big ideas that don’t yield immediate financial returns. Importantly, much of Amazon’s success can be attributed to investing in projects that weren’t profitable in the short term, but with Wall Street’s backing, it’s been able to focus on growth instead. , the company was able to expand its market share and power in certain sectors.

“The question among employees is, ‘Does this mean I should only be on teams that add revenue or are considered ‘safest’?'” 10+ Years Amazon A senior manager told Recode. “This is very detrimental to the ‘think big’, ‘invent and simplify’ ethos at this company.” his two.)

But the problem with looking for deeper implications of Amazon’s recent move is that its leaders are worried about the future of the economy, betting that the pandemic-fueled e-commerce boom will last longer than it actually does. Amazon is in a league of its own as an employment machine. Between 2019 and 2021, Amazon will double its workforce, including warehouse workers. added 800,000 employees in just two years. Amazon now has over 300,000 technical and corporate employees worldwide.

“No company in the last 10 years has hired like Amazon,” said Craig Berman, former head of communications at Amazon, who left the company in 2018 after 14 years at the company. “So I hesitate to even speculate what this might mean, as there is nothing historical to base the reaction on.”

As a result, Berman said it’s understandable for employees and prospective employees to be confused by layoffs and layoffs. Especially since the company hasn’t made any significant layoffs in over 20 years and has barely stepped in. From 2007 to 2009 he said that even during the Great Recession,

“They seemed immune,” Berman said.

Amazon’s new reality is setting a stark alarm for future employees. Some told Recode they were expecting jobs to stay or re-enter the United States on work visas and were distraught about needing to find new jobs on short notice. One employee just received a job offer in September with a scheduled start date in January. Another employee, who was due to start a high-paying tech job in the retail sector in January, was offered the job in October but turned it down the following month.

“I think the worst part for Amazon was the damage to their reputation,” the person told Recode.

The employee said he primarily chose Amazon over offers from rival companies. The Seattle-based tech giant offered significantly higher compensation packages. They said that had their financial situation been more equal, they would likely have chosen a competitor with a good reputation for work-life balance.

Amazon has long been a stable corporate employer, adding new lucrative roles each year, but among some staff, especially as its stock price has risen consistently over the past decade. It developed a reputation as a brutal and brutal workplace. What some employees from underrepresented backgrounds felt discriminated against, or worse. Earlier this year, Insider reported that a talented employee was leaving Amazon’s corporate division twice as fast as he usually does. And even before the cycle of layoffs and offer withdrawals began, it appears that perceptions of the company’s corporate culture were negatively impacting hiring, according to his June internal Amazon memo reviewed by Recode.

The internal memo cites a LinkedIn survey of more than 7,000 software developers who weren’t working for Amazon at the time. Among the top 25 technology companies, Amazon ranks 19th for excellent work-life balance, 10th for flexible working arrangements, and 11th for continuous employee training and development it was done. These rankings have had a negative impact on hiring, according to the note, with 40% fewer job seekers applying for software development jobs at Amazon in May than in January.

These existing hiring problems could be exacerbated by tech giants cutting roles and canceling job openings. Amazon appears to be aware of this and is attempting damage control.

Tom Wilson, president of HR executive search firm Frederickson Partners, said of companies canceling job openings, “It’s going to have an impact on the employer’s brand.”

However, whether one month’s payment is sufficient to strengthen the company’s reputation as a top employer is an open question.

Despite making acquisition offers to at least hundreds of recruiters, Amazon expects to hire in some growth areas, such as Amazon Web Services, in 2023. After all, if you want to compete for the best tech talent as you pursue ambitions in other industries, from e-commerce to video streaming to cloud computing to advertising, you need to improve your reputation. I have. The 10,000 job cuts represent only about 3% of all company roles, but it’s a foreign shift for most Amazon employees and those who once saw the company as a dream employer. .