Amazon to cut 9,000 jobs in second round of layoffs, says report
New York, Mar 20: Amazon announced on Monday it will lay off 9,000 corporate and technology workers, eliminating jobs in addition to the 18,000 job cuts undertaken by the company in the last few months.
"As we've just concluded the second phase of our operating plan (OP2) this past week, I'm writing to share that we intend to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks mostly in AWS, PXT (People, Experience, and Technology), Advertising, and Twitch. This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.
The 9,000 job cuts, which will be completed by mid to late April, are in addition to the massive 18, 000 layoffs that the company undertook since November last year.
Jassy said that "given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount" adding that the "overriding tenet of our annual planning" this year was to be leaner.
Jassy acknowledged people may question why the additional 9,000 job cuts were not announced together with the previous lay-offs.
"The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to share these decisions as we've made them so people had the information as soon as possible," Jassy said.
Technology giants Google, Microsoft and Facebook have announced massive job cuts in the last few months, amid global economic uncertainty. Digital consumption soared during the years of the pandemic, prompting companies to diversify portfolios and scale up hiring.
But as consumers cut back on their digital footprint as normalcy returned after the pandemic, companies have been forced to restructure and cut costs.
Last week, Facebook-parent Meta had said it will lay off another 10,000 workers and will not fill another 5,000 positions, announcing the second round of significant job cuts by the tech major in four months.
The latest move came after Meta slashed approximately 13 per cent of its workforce, or 11,000 jobs in November last year, in the single largest round of cuts in the company's history.
In a Facebook post, CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said the job cuts will take place "over the next couple of months."
"We expect to announce restructurings and layoffs in our tech groups in late April, and then our business groups in late May," he wrote.
In January this year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the company was slashing 12,000 jobs.
A day before Google's announcement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company will lay off 10,000 workers, or less than five per cent of its total workforce, as the technology giant aligns its cost structure with revenue and customer demand.
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No unannounced load shedding in Kerala, outages due to overload, says Minister
Palakkad (PTI): Kerala Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty on Saturday said there was no unannounced load shedding in the state, attributing recent power interruptions to temporary overload caused by high consumption.
Clarifying concerns raised from various parts of the state, the minister said the disruptions are not deliberate but occur when demand peaks, particularly between 10 pm and 11 pm.
"It is not being done intentionally. Power consumption has risen sharply, and when there is excessive and indiscriminate usage, the system experiences overload, leading to natural supply interruptions," he told reporters here.
His remarks come amid complaints that several areas have been witnessing frequent power cuts, often lasting around 15 minutes and occurring multiple times during the night.
Krishnankutty said the state's power demand has crossed 6,195 MW, putting pressure on the supply system. He added that around 70 per cent of Kerala's electricity is procured from outside, and existing power banking arrangements have been exhausted.
"We have approached the Regulatory Commission seeking permission to purchase more power. However, this will come at a higher cost," he said.
The minister said the government is trying to avoid increasing electricity tariffs and urged consumers to exercise restraint in usage to help manage the situation.
Responding to opposition criticism over the ruling LDF's earlier claims of a decade without power cuts, he said the current situation is not unique to Kerala.
A power crisis is emerging across the country, he said, and sarcastically asked the Opposition to take note of the role of natural factors in this.
Krishnankutty expressed confidence that the situation would improve within two days, while cautioning that long-term energy security would depend on enhancing in-state power generation.
He also warned that future generations could face serious challenges if adequate electricity production capacity is not developed within Kerala.
