One of the world’s leading e-commerce companies, Amazon, is reportedly planning to lay off 370 employees at its European headquarters in Luxembourg. According to a Bloomberg report, the move could be made
in the coming weeks and see the release of 8.5 per cent of the company’s workforce in Europe.
Having originally planned to let go of 470 of the 4,370 employees at its European headquarters, Amazon has had to downsize the list of unretained workers due to the European Union regulations requiring firms to negotiate layoffs with employee representatives and even the government authorities.
‘Business Needs And Local Strategies’
According to the report by Bloomberg, Amazon informed its employees about the layoffs via a memo, calling it a move that reflected the company’s adjustment in “business needs and local strategies.” The company also explained that its severance packages in Luxembourg ran “well beyond industry benchmarks.”
One Amazon employee spoke to Bloomberg and highlighted that these layoffs would aggravate the challenge faced by hundreds of aspirants in entering the job market and finding their desired roles in Luxembourg. Despite the cuts, Amazon will remain the fifth-largest employer in the small country with a population of roughly 68,000. However, the move will have a huge impact on the subordinates that the company has.
How The Move Affects Non-EU Workers
According to People Matters, non-European Union employees associated with Amazon will have three months to either find a new employer or exit Luxembourg as per the immigration laws in the nation. As the tech industry increasingly shifts towards artificial intelligence for coding tasks, Amazon’s move will primarily hurt the software developers.
In October, Amazon had confirmed plans to reduce its global workforce to merely 14,000 employees. The company aims to simplify its operations and raise its usage of artificial intelligence tools to support sustainable growth in an ever-evolving landscape. The drop in Amazon’s Luxembourg employees is reportedly the largest set of layoffs in over two decades in the country, which will significantly impact its local labour market.
