Amazon's India Workforce Shrinks By 500 Amid Global Downsizing And E-Commerce Slump

Amazon, the Seattle-based tech giant, is actively laying off at least 500 employees in India across multiple departments such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), human resources, and support functions, according to media reports.

What Happened? Per a report by Mint, these layoffs form part of the global workforce reduction plan that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced in late March, affecting about 9,000 employees worldwide. The company has even ceased some seller onboarding operations in tier-2 cities like Kochi and Lucknow as part of its restructuring efforts.

These job cuts follow an earlier wave of layoffs at Amazon a few months ago. Amidst a global slump in tech stocks, including Amazon’s, the company initially announced in January that it would terminate around 18,000 employees.

Reports emerged in November last year that Amazon planned job cuts in India in line with its global strategies. The company discontinued several of its businesses in India late last year, including its edtech, food delivery, and wholesale distribution segments.

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In April, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky informed analysts that the growth from AWS, its cloud business, would continue to decelerate as business customers braced for instability and tightened spending.

Amazon’s e-commerce business in India is currently in transition, with Appario, one of its largest sellers, moving inventory to new sellers to comply with Indian regulations. These regulations prohibit foreign-owned online marketplaces and their group companies from owning stakes in any seller on the platform or controlling their inventory.

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