Fears for Irish jobs as Amazon cuts 16,000 roles globally
Amazon has told staff it plans to cut around 16,000 jobs globally as part of efforts to streamline its operations.It is the latest major round of lay-offs at the retail technology giant, coming only three months after it axed around 14,000 jobs. It is understood the majority of jobs impacted by the latest cuts will be in the US but it is likely to also affect Ireland, where the company employs approximately 6,500 people.Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon, told staff in a blog post: “As I shared in October, we’ve been working to strengthen our organisation by reducing layers, increasing ownership and removing bureaucracy.“Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan.” The announcement, which came after redundancy plans were accidentally shared with some staff in error on Tuesday, comes amid a backdrop of growing AI adoption within corporate operations.Last year, boss Andy Jassy suggested Amazon was likely to reduce its staff count over the coming years as it increases its use of artificial intelligence for many tasks. The company employed around 1.57 million people at the end of September last year, with about 350,000 of these across its corporate workforce, while the majority of employees work in its warehouses.Earlier this week, Amazon confirmed it would close its remaining Amazon Fresh and Go retail stores across the US, focusing instead on its Whole Foods store business.Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice .For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage .
