Amazon Rumored to Lay Off 10,000 Employees 敵不過經濟衰退 亞馬遜傳大規模裁員1萬人

Amazon.com Inc is planning to lay off around 10,000 employees in corporate and technology roles beginning this week.The cuts would represent about 3 percent of Amazon's corporate staff. The online retailer plans to eliminate jobs in its devices organization, which makes voice-controlled "Alexa" gadgets and home-security cameras, as well as in its human-resources and retail divisions.

E-commerce leader Amazon has reported that it will lay off employees as the year-end shopping season starts, when a large number of manpower is urgently needed. News outlets such as the New York Times and Reuters reported that Amazon plans to eliminate jobs in its devices organization, which makes voice-controlled "Alexa" gadgets and home-security cameras, as well as in its human resources and retail divisions. It is estimated that about 10,000 people will be laid off, accounting for about 3 percent of U.S. Amazon employees and less than 1 percent of the global workforce. Analysts pointed out that the post-epidemic economic recession has hit Amazon.

Dan Ives, Managing Director, Wedbush Securities: “There's clearly been a massive drop off in growth that we've seen across the tech industry. Amazon is not immune to that.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon's devices unit in some recent years has posted an annual operating loss of more than NT$150 billion. Facing a global economic downturn and recession, Amazon's new CEO Andy Jessy has adopted a cost-cutting business strategy since he took office last year. Before news of layoffs came to light, Amazon first tried to freeze retail personnel hiring, shut the electronic medical services department and smart customer service centers. It also canceled logistics robots and suspended store exhibition plans. Amazon's financial report showed poor revenue in the third quarter, and its stock has dropped by more than 13 percent. Amazon's share price has lost 41 percent of their value this year, its worst performance since 2008.

Dan Ives, Managing Director, Wedbush Securities: “Look, I think dark times in tech. We're seeing it at Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and others. The clock struck midnight on hypergrowth, and now you're seeing the cuts across the board.  ”

The technology industry may indeed be entering a dark period. Facebook, which was renamed Meta, reported last week it will lay off more than 11,000 people, or 13 percent of its workforce, to rein in costs. After Tesla founder Elon Musk bought Twitter for NT$1.4 trillion, he immediately laid off as much as half of its workforce. Amazon's 58-year-old founder Jeff Bezos expressed for the first time in an exclusive interview with CNN that he would donate most of his net worth for charity. Bezos has been the richest man in the United States for four consecutive years, and his current net worth is as high as NT$3.8 trillion. Prior to his announcement, Bezos rarely made charitable donations. He was once on the same list as the most stingy billionaire with Musk. His ex-wife MacKenzie Scott donated most of her alimony to charity, and Bezos was under a lot of pressure to do the same.

在急需大量人手的年底購物季開跑之際，電商龍頭亞馬遜卻傳出將資遣員工的消息。紐約時報和路透等外媒報導，亞馬遜開鍘的部門集中在研發智慧語音助理Alexa和家用監視器等產品部，以及人資與零售部門。預估被資遣的人數約為1萬人，佔亞馬遜公司約3%，在全球員工數占比不到1%。投顧專家指出，後疫情時代的經濟衰退已經擴及到亞馬遜。

美國統一證券總經理艾佛斯說道：「經濟成長明顯出現衰退，在科技業是如此，亞馬遜也無法倖免。」

華爾街日報報導，這幾年亞馬遜產品部門每年虧損超過台幣1500億。面對全球低迷的經濟與衰退的買氣，亞馬遜新任CEO安迪傑西去年上任以來，便採取削減成本的經營策略。在裁員消息曝光前，亞馬遜先行凍結零售人事，也關閉電子醫療服務、智慧客服中心，取消物流機器人，暫停展店計畫等。亞馬遜財報顯示第3季營收不佳，股價持續下探超過13%。今年以來亞馬遜股價累積起來已經少掉41%，是2008年以來最糟的數字。

艾佛斯指出：「我看到科技業的黑暗時代，在亞馬遜、蘋果、微軟和其他，當超速成長時限一到，就開始裁員了。」

科技業恐怕真的進入黑暗時期。臉書改名的Meta，上週傳出資遣1萬1千多人，裁員幅度超過13%；特斯拉創辦人馬斯克以1.4兆台幣買下推特後，隨即裁掉多達一半的人力。亞馬遜前景堪慮，而58歲的創辦人貝佐斯在接受CNN專訪時，則首度表達將捐出大部分的身家作為慈善用途。貝佐斯曾連續4年榮登美國首富，目前身價高達台幣3.8兆。在這之前貝佐斯很少進行公益捐獻，曾和馬斯克同列小氣富豪名單。他的前妻史考特將大半贍養費用做公益，貝佐斯為此承受不少壓力。