‘People crying in office’: Amazon India employee describes scene amid layoffs

Amazon layoffs are expected to affect 1% of its workfroce in India (Image: AP)

An Amazon employee has described grim scenes at the company’s India offices amid widespread job cuts. The e-commerce giant has begun layoffs that will affect 1 percent of its workforce in India, according to a Times of India report. Around 1,000 employees are expected to be sacked this month and the process has already begun for some.

According to a post on the anonymous community app for Indian professionals, Grapevine, purportedly made by an Amazon India employee, people are “crying in office” after receiving news of layoffs.

The post titled “Amazon India Current Condition” was made one day ago by an employee writing under the pseudonym ‘Batman1’.

In his post, he said 75 percent of his team had been let go, and that he felt no motivation to work even though he still had his job. The employee did not reveal which department he works in.

“75% of my team is gone. Although I’m in the remaining 25% I don’t feel motivated to work anymore,” the Amazon employee wrote in his Grapevine post. “They are firing people in cabins. People are crying in the office.”

Atmosphere at Amazon India as layoffs take place:

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“You can hear people breaking down and crying in the office”

"75% of my team is gone, I'm still employeed but don't feel like working anymore”

Link to post on Grapevine: https://t.co/Af6tAtOgLw pic.twitter.com/qqGpKYV2sd

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— Corporate Chat India (@anonCorpChatInd) January 13, 2023

According to an India Today report, layoffs have impacted several departments in India across locations like Gurugram and Bengaluru. Affected employees were informed via email and asked to meet the leadership team on a specified date to have their questions answered.

Amazon offered five months’ severance pay to laid off employees, the report further said.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had first announced the company’s intention of mass layoffs in November last year. “We plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles. Several teams are impacted; however, the majority of role eliminations are in our Amazon Stores and PXT organizations,” Jassy said in an update shared January 4.