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Amazon freezes corporate hiring across its retail division

By Nithya Bose in US Employment News, posted October 8, 2022

Amazon has put a halt to hiring in its core retail unit, the latest move from a big tech firm to pull out recruiting as it grapples with economic challenges.

The e-commerce giant will freeze corporate hiring, including tech roles in its retail division, until the end of the year.

It has directed recruiters to close all open job vacancies for those roles within the next few days.

The business also suggested that some recruitment activities, such as phone calls to screen new prospects, be discontinued.

Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser said the big-box retailer still has a considerable number of unfilled positions across the organization.

Glasser said: “We have many different businesses at various stages of evolution, and we expect to keep adjusting our hiring strategies in each of these businesses at various junctures.”

Amazon is the latest corporation to reconsider its employment plans in the face of economic uncertainty.

A number of corporations, including Google, Apple, and Meta, have indicated recruiting will be reduced or halted completely.

Companies are also searching for strategies to reduce expenses in order to prepare for future setbacks.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been working hard to cut costs as the company deals with sluggish growth in its main retail division.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the retail industry saw rapid development as customers eschewed physical stores in favor of internet sellers.

By early 2022, e-commerce spending had begun to drop, and Amazon recorded its worst pace of sales growth since the dot-com crash in 2001 in the first quarter.

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After sluggish retail sales and growing costs started to have an impact on earnings, Jassy told investors that he is focusing on recovering to a "healthy level of profitability."

The Seattle giant has delayed or canceled the opening of new sites in recent months.

The company is also postponing the inauguration of some new buildings since its pandemic-driven growth has l eft it with too much warehousing space.

It has also shuttered virtually all of its call centers in the United States in order to save money on real estate.

The corporation is also dealing with an excess of employees as a result of its recent hiring blitz.

Amazon reduced its workforce by 99,000 in the second quarter, bringing it to 1.52 million people.

Source: CNBC

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