Amazon begins mass layoffs among its corporate workforce
New York, Nov 17: Amazon has begun mass layoffs in its corporate ranks, becoming the latest tech company to trim its workforce amid rising fears about the wider economic environment.
On Tuesday, the company notified regional authorities in California that it would lay off about 260 workers at various facilities that employ data scientists, software engineers and other corporate workers. Those job cuts would be effective beginning on January 17.
Amazon would not specify how many more layoffs may be in the works beyond the ones confirmed through California's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, also known as WARN, which requires companies to provide 60 days' notice if they have 75 or more full-time or part-time workers. Amazon employs more than 1.5 million (15 lakh) workers globally, primarily made up of hourly workers.
The online retail giant, like other tech and social media giants, saw sizable profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, as homebound shoppers purchased more items online. But revenue growth slowed as the worst of the pandemic eased and consumers relied less on ecommerce.
The Seattle-based company reported two consecutive losses this year, driven mainly by write-downs of the value of its stock investment in electric vehicle start-up Rivian Automotive. The company returned to profitability during the third quarter, but investors were gloomy about its weaker-than-expected revenue and lackluster projections for the current quarter, which is typically good for retailers due to the holiday shopping season.
In an effort to cut back on costs, Amazon has already been axing some of its projects -- including subsidiary fabric.com, Amazon Care and the cooler-size home delivery robot Scout. It has also been scaling back its physical footprint by delaying -- or cancelling -- plans to occupy some new warehouses across the country. And Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky has said the company was preparing for what could be a slower growth period and would be careful about hiring in the near future.
Mass layoffs are rare at Amazon, but the company has had rounds of job cuts in 2018 and in 2001 during the dot-com crash. On the warehouse side, the ecommerce giant typically trims its workforce through attrition.
Faced with high costs, the company announced earlier this month it would pause hiring among its corporate workforce, adding to the freeze it put a few weeks earlier on its retail division. But the layoffs were not far off. Employees who work in different units, including voice assistant Alexa and cloud gaming platform Amazon Luna, said they were let go on Tuesday, according to LinkedIn posts. Some of them were based in Seattle, where the company has its headquarters.
"As part of our annual operating planning review process, we always look at each of our businesses and what we believe we should change," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. "As we have gone through this, given the current macro-economic environment (as well as several years of rapid hiring), some teams are making adjustments, which in some cases means certain roles are no longer necessary."
In a statement posted on the company's website, Dave Limp, senior vice president of devices and services, said Amazon was consolidating some teams and programmes. He said those laid off in the process were notified on Tuesday and the company will work with them to "provide support", including assistance in finding new roles. If an employee cannot find a new role within the company, Limp said Amazon will provide a severance payment, external job placement support and what he called transitional benefits.
The retail behemoth follows other tech giants who have cut jobs in the past few weeks. Among them, Facebook parent Meta said last week it would lay off 11,000 people, about 13 per cent of its workforce. And Elon Musk, the new Twitter CEO, slashed the company's workforce in half this month.
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Skipper Curran, bowlers lead PBKS to a five-wicket win over RR
Guwahati, May 15: Skipper Sam Curran played the lead act hitting a well-paced fifty and taking two wickets, as Punjab Kings consigned Rajasthan Royals to a five-wicket defeat in their IPL match here on Wednesday.
The target was a mere 145, but Kings made heavy weather of it on a sluggish track here but Curran (63 not out, 41b, 5x4, 3x6) had a calm head and skills to lift them to their fifth win of the season. PBKS made 145/5 in 18.5 overs.
The Englishman received good support from Jitesh Sharma (22, 20b) as the pair added 63 runs in a fluent fifth wicket partnership.
For Royals, it was their fourth defeat on the trot, but they remained second on the table with 16 points with a qualification to the playoffs to boot with.
The Kings’ chase began on a shaky note as they lost Prabhsimran Singh in the first over itself to Trent Boult.
But bigger jolts were in store as an impressive Avesh Khan (2/28) scalped two wickets in the fifth over.
The right-arm pacer first plucked the important wicket of Rilee Rossouw, who played some strong shots in his 13-ball 22, and then jettisoned in-form Shashank Singh for a two-ball naught.
Shashank failed to connect a fuller, straighter one from Avesh while attempting a flick, and the 141 kmph delivery thudded on his bat. Shashank did not even bother to use DRS as he walked away.
Punjab gained some ground through the alliance between Curran and Jitesh, who smoked R Ashwin for two sixes.
Curran too gave a dose of punishment to the veteran offie, lofting him for a wonderful six over extra cover.
But the blossoming stand was snapped by Yuzvendra Chahal (2/31), leaving PBKS at 111 for five in the 16th over.
However, Curran and Ashutosh Sharma (17 not out, 11 balls) knocked off the remaining runs without further drama.
Earlier, despite a well-tuned 48 from local hero Riyan Parag, RR struggled against an array of accurate bowlers on a rather slow pitch, meandering to a sub-par 144 for nine.
R Ashwin (28, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) and Parag (48, 34, 6x4) tried to accelerate during their 50-run stand for the fourth wicket but it could only bring in a temporary momentum for RR.
In fact, lethargy had set in very early in the Rajasthan innings after the early loss of Jaiswal, who chopped a Curran (2/24) delivery back on to his stumps.
Sanju Samson (18), who went past 500-run in a season for the first time in his IPL career, and Tom-Kohler Cadmore (18, 23b) stitched 36 runs for the second wicket but took six overs for it.
But with Curran and Arshdeep finding a hint of swing and maintaining a good line, scoring was not an easy proposition for the RR batters.
Eventually, Samson, who tried a hopping cut off pacer Nathan Ellis, gave a simple catch to Rahul Chahar at point in the seventh over.
Cadmore too returned to the dugout in the next over, as his almighty heave off leg-spinner Chahar (2/26) could not progress beyond Jitesh in the deep.
Those twin dismissals actually paved the way for the best phase in the Royals’ innings as Ashwin and Parag pressed their foot on the right pedal.
Ashwin displayed his batting skills, smashing Chahar for 17 runs in the 12th over that included a sequence of 6, 4, 4 and the first four was a stunning reverse scoop over backward point.
But he could not further extend his innings, lofting Arshdeep to Shashank.
Parag, usually a free-flowing batter, had to curb his flair in front of a hugely adoring home crowd because of the regular fall of wickets at the other end.
But a late cut off Curran that sped to third man stood as a testament of his ability and timing as he also moved past the 500-run mark for the season, before getting trapped in front of the wicket by Harshal Patel.
However, apart from conquering those little peaks the RR batters failed to slip into the top gear consistently.
