Amazon fires more employees, says layoffs will help improve business

By Ankita GargIt seems that Amazon is not done yet with layoffs, as more people are being removed from the company. Amazon has fired some of its employees within the Pharmacy business unit. A “small number” of staff members from the Amazon Pharmacy division have been eliminated by the company, Amazon told CNBC.

“Like many businesses, we are always improving our processes, for both quality and efficiency, and identifying how we can deliver on the best customer experience,” the company’s spokesperson Brad Glasser said. He confirmed that a few positions within the pharmacy section of Amazon were eliminated, stating, “We have made the decision to adjust resources, and a small number of roles have been eliminated on the Amazon Pharmacy Services team.”

Notably, a report by Semafor claimed that the tech giant fired as many as 80 employees during the fresh round of layoffs. The affected individuals primarily include pharmacy technicians and team leads. The pharmacists that were registered haven’t been laid off, according to the source.

The Amazon Pharmacy division was launched in 2020 and has previously experienced layoffs earlier in the year. In January, Amazon terminated program managers, risk compliance managers, and billing managers as part of a larger scale of 18,000 job cuts across the company. The job cuts also impacted employees working on digital health tools and the Halo health and fitness trackers, as reported by CNBC.

Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy has previously revealed that the tech company has witnessed its most substantial layoffs this year, with 18,000 job cuts made previously, followed by an additional 9,000 employees laid off. Additionally, in May this year, it came to light that Amazon handed over pink slips to 500 employees in India across various business sectors and functions. This impacted employees in Amazon Web Services (AWS), human resources, and support functions.

It is worth pointing out that Amazon is not the only company that is still removing some people from the company. There have been reports about other tech giants firing employees. Microsoft recently laid off 275 employees, which is in addition to the 10,000 people that were asked to leave earlier this year.

In a statement to GeekWire, Microsoft confirmed upcoming layoffs and asserted, “Organisational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritise and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners.”