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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

#121
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

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

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

You make sure you have savings and don’t depend on the benevolence of any company…

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

#123

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 is a wonderful observation. When I was a kid my dad said "companies won't think twice about dumping you, don't worry about dumping them." But he worked in the same place for forty years. Sometimes he was treated well, sometimes he wasn't. It occurs to me what a relic that world is but also how it sounded bizarre when my dad said that to me in the early 00s. At that time there were still "lifers" all over that pl…

The other day I heard on here the phrase "cattle, not pets" used as how to treat servers. This seems useful in this context too.

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

#124
post #65
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Laying people off reduces one of the biggest costs to an organization, thus making it more profitable (even if in the short term), thus the stock price rises. Stocks are always forward looking and investors believe that by cutting down costs and re-focusing will make amazon worth more in the future.

How can a company be more profitable with less workers if the workers are the source of the profits?

That’s the point, they’re laying off unprofitable orgs. What makes you think that more workers translates to more profitable?

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

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No company has the slightest clue what the economic environment will look like in 3 years, much less 5.

Hence the layoffs. They still have to try though

Do they really need to "try" by laying peole off? Why is this the standard move despite the business and finances still booming? It's a weird MBA monkey mimicry game.

I dislike Amazon yet continue to order stuff at the same rate. How many non-government entities have a base like this? Seems like an enviable position.

How many layoff announcements have you seen where the company says "We'd love to keep pursuing this but we flat out can't afford to pay you, we are out of money"? I've seen zero. I understand some of this is prudent financial planning, especially for SMBs, but SFDC and AMZN.. they must be using different calculus.

Amazon appears less dependent on the nearly-free-money-gravy-train compared to most businesses, especially VC and startups.

Edit: dkrich's comment states it better than I can in every way: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34254450

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

#126

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…

I have no opinion on the MBA bit, but I think you're spot on about people starting to treat companies the way the companies are treating them. ~10 years ago, when I got my first job, I was in the minority, pretty much the only person cynical about big companies' claims how "people are our most important resource", how important is the company "culture" and all of that corporate kumbaya. And, at that point, the vast m…

>I was in the minority, pretty much the only person cynical about big companies' claims how "people are our most important resource"

You tread in strange circles. I'd think a cursory look at history ought to be enough to put the lie to such claims.

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

#127

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…

For me I've decided to avoid US companies as much as I can.

It does not help our societies to facilitate the siphoning of our local wealth to enrich foreign companies. Especially ones that have such disregard for their own, imagine their view of the rest of us.

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

#128
post #39

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?

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

Since when does having zero openings mean that a team is shut down? Sometimes teams are staffed enough to not need more people at the moment, so they will post a job opening whenever there is a need for it.

A specific personal example: my org had a period of a couple of months with no openings in late second half of last year, simply because we didn't need more people at the time, and then we posted more openings later. We were nowhere close to being shut down.

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

#129

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?

I’ve worked professionally since 1996. There has never been a day in my professional career that I thought of any job as any more than a means to support my addiction to food and shelter

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

#130

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…

> 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.

It goes both ways. If you planned so poorly and hired so fast that a minor perturbation in the market causes you to fire 17,000 people, you're still communicating that you putting profits above people.

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