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Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

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Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

#71

Post by twelve40 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #58
VincentEvans wrote: post #36

Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…

> We are seeing a bit of a market downturn - but it hasn’t hit Amazon pocketbook now, has it? Are they in danger of running out of money? What happened to “people are our most important resource”? Companies plan for where the market is going, not last quarter’s results. It’s fully clear to everyone that the economy has shifted dramatically. They are adjusting as appropriate. Also, these people will be laid off with s…

> They have Amazon on their resume

the parent comment talks about "these companies". what happens when less prominent companies take a cue from fangs and start booting people out, only with crappier severance and crappier resumes? this is far from the last layoff.

Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

#72

Post by zitterbewegung »

VincentEvans wrote: post #36

Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…

This was covered in ArsTechnica [1] and it seems like they are laying off a large portion of the Alexa team because it doesn't make a profit. I bought the Alexa when it first came out and it had and still has a great UI. When the Alexa launched I made a skill on the platform which I don't think anyone really downloaded. What confused me the most was Amazon never allowed for paid skills (which I really think was an extremely bad move) and it appears they just internally justified it as a loss leader but no developer would touch it from a ten foot pole. Cutting something that is a cost center is pretty much standard if you aren't showing as much growth that is expected for you. Therefore, cutting something that costs you ten billion dollars sounds pretty justified to me when they could have profited from it instead.

EDIT: Guess I didn't do my research about paid skills...

[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/11/amazon-alexa-is-a-co...

Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

#73

Post by ptero »

VincentEvans wrote: post #36

Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…

Being able to easily lay off employees means that the companies are much happier hiring, too. Most of those fired will likely land another job soon, precisely because their new employer does not have to treat their hiring as a multi-year commitment.

Europe, which makes it very hard to let an employee go, tends to have significantly higher unemployment than the US, which is much more cavalier about layoffs. My 2c.

Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

#75

Post by 8note »

bencpeters wrote: post #46
discodave wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like Amazon. Back in the day they managed to avoid 'layoffs' by transferring thousands of people from Fire Phone -> Alexa. They somehow avoided layoffs from shutting down Prime Air (drones, not 767s), even though that had a lot of employees. They're pretty good at getting people to leave without doing 'layoffs'. Heck, if you believe that they've always had 5-10% 'unregretted attrition' targets, which I do, and…

Prime Air is not shut down, we're working on it and expanding. Can't post too many details, but we are actively delivering to customers in test markets today. A publically released video from a few months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bDyeUiWL3M&ab_channel=amazo... Source: I'm an SDE at Prime Air.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/12/amazon-begins-drone-...

I saw this recently?

=> I work at Amazon but far away from prime air

Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

#76

Post by dcchambers »

VincentEvans wrote: post #36

Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…

Has the relationship between employer and employee ever felt more transactional?

Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

#77

Post by quanticle »

discodave wrote: post #16
jvanderbot wrote: post #6

I just wanted to point out that probably 2000 of us (in robotics/AI) were "laid off" in Q4, but were paid through the end of the calendar year "To find an internal position". Almost none did, and I don't think that was really the intent, but what do I know. They're in this batch. I expect a Q2 announcement of all those people who in Q1 were "transitioning to new positions" that were eliminated before they could move.

Sounds like Amazon. Back in the day they managed to avoid 'layoffs' by transferring thousands of people from Fire Phone -> Alexa. They somehow avoided layoffs from shutting down Prime Air (drones, not 767s), even though that had a lot of employees. They're pretty good at getting people to leave without doing 'layoffs'. Heck, if you believe that they've always had 5-10% 'unregretted attrition' targets, which I do, and…

Why do you believe Prime Air is shut down, when it just started making actual drone deliveries to customers in College Station TX, and Lockeford, CA [1]?

[1]: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/12/amazon-begins-drone-...

Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

#78

Post by JustSomeNobody »

eqmvii wrote: post #41
VincentEvans wrote: post #36

Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…

Companies are in the business of predicting the market in a quarter, a year, 5 years, etc. They got it wrong and overhired. There's ample evidence of that, and of cooling demand - now and in the future.

Can they beat the Dow Jones also?

Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

#79

Post by AlotOfReading »

jjallen wrote: post #39
jasonpeacock wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prime Air was not shut down: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/team/prime-air

There are zero openings. How does this prove it’s not shutdown?

They also had 30% turnover in 2021 and 20% the year before according to [1]. I can't imagine how miserable it must be there to generate those numbers.

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20220506053517/https://www.busin...

Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned

#80

Post by bobkazamakis »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #58
VincentEvans wrote: post #36

Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…

> We are seeing a bit of a market downturn - but it hasn’t hit Amazon pocketbook now, has it? Are they in danger of running out of money? What happened to “people are our most important resource”? Companies plan for where the market is going, not last quarter’s results. It’s fully clear to everyone that the economy has shifted dramatically. They are adjusting as appropriate. Also, these people will be laid off with s…

> They have Amazon on their resume

resumes.LastOrDefault();

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