Amazon layoffs hit India operations; Prime Video, Devices teams among those impacted

It has been a day of uncertainty and panic across Amazon India's offices as the company's latest round of global layoffs has extended to its India operations. Employees across multiple divisions have started being let go starting Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

Layoffs are taking place across teams. While some employees suggested Prime Video being hit the most, layoffs have been across Devices & Services teams, Finance and Global Business Services, the Competitor Monitoring team, and the HR department. The majority of the affected employees are based in Bengaluru, with some impacted roles in Chennai and Hyderabad as well.

Employees were informed mostly through one-on-one meetings with their managers. One employee said he was handed documents detailing exit process, severance pay and other details about the layoff and was asked to leave within two hours of signing.

The standard exit package includes two months of garden leave (on payroll), two months of severance, and one month’s notice pay. In addition, employees will receive pay per year of service, along with payouts for accrued leave and gratuity, where applicable, amongst other transition support.

Responding to CNBC-TV18's query, an Amazon India spokesperson directed the reporter to Beth Galetti's post from Tuesday, October 28.

Several employees also took to platforms like Reddit and Slack to share the news and details of their layoffs. One user on Reddit shared that several colleagues from Prime Video Trust and Safety Department were impacted across L3 levels, and that a L7 manager who recently joined has also being laid off. L7 is a senior managerial level employee, while L3 largely refers to junior employees.

The layoffs are part of Amazon’s broader global restructuring drive announced earlier this week. The company said it would cut about 14,000 roles worldwide as it seeks to streamline operations and remove management layers to become “more agile” while investing heavily in artificial intelligence.

In a memo to staff, Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology, described AI as “the most transformative technology since the Internet,” saying the company needed to “simplify how we operate” to move faster in deploying AI-led innovations.

The current round of cuts follows multiple waves of layoffs at Amazon since late 2022, which together have impacted tens of thousands of employees globally across its retail, AWS, devices, and human resources units.