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Amazon to slash health-care jobs after its telehealth service closure

By Nithya Bose in US business news, posted September 12, 2022

Amazon is planning to let go of more than 150 workers as it phases out its telehealth service.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filings reveal 159 Amazon Care employees are to be affected by layoffs beginning Thursday, December 1.

The WARN Act mandates companies to provide prior notice of mass layoffs or facility closures, usually within 60 days.

Care Medical, a team of clinicians assigned to treat Amazon Care patients, will lose another 236 employees.

It is an independent firm that works on a contract basis with the retailer.

The Seattle-based company revealed late last month of dissolving its telehealth service after December 31.

The firm announced that it decided to end the service as it was not "a complete enough offering" for customers.

Amazon Care, along with its pharmacy and consumer diagnostics operations, was part of the firm’s mission to disrupt the healthcare sector.

Despite the closure of Amazon Care, the company's push into health care has continued.

The Seattle corporation announced in July it will purchase One Medical for $3.9 billion, bringing with it a network of boutique primary care clinics.

Amazon Care began as an experiment for employees in and around the company's Seattle headquarters in 2019, before spreading to other employers.

The program offers virtual urgent care visits, free telehealth consults, and in-home visits from nurses for testing and vaccinations for a charge.

When the retailer announced the service's end, the company stated in a memo to staff that it would provide them with opportunities to work elsewhere at Amazon.

Amazon Health Services lead Neil Lindsay said: “Many Care employees will have an opportunity to join other parts of the Health Services organization or other teams at Amazon — which we’ll be discussing with many of you shortly — and we’ll also support employees looking for roles outside of the company.”

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In an emailed statement, an Amazon official reaffirmed that employees impacted will have the option to pursue other roles within the company.

The statement said: “Our priority continues to be supporting our employees during this transition,”

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

The e-commerce giant is taking efforts to reduce its staff to reduce costs after rapidly expanding its workforce and warehouse capacity during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Source: CNBC

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