Amazon shutting down some of its business amid global cuts

INTRODUCTION

Amazon Inc. will discontinue a food-delivery service it was testing in India, just one day after it announced the closure of its online learning platform for high-school students in the country. Amazon Food has about 3,000 restaurant partners, including fast-food chains like McDonald's and Domino's Pizza.

From August 2023, the company will stop operating its ed-tech division, Amazon Academy. Amazon Academy was established as an online learning platform for engineering students preparing for competitive exams such as JEE. However, it was unable to compete with top edtech firms such as Byju's, Unacademy, and Vedantu.

The company recently laid off approximately 10,000 employees from its global workforce. The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has written to the Labour Ministry, claiming that it has received complaints from Amazon employees that they are being forced to leave the company 'voluntarily.' According to the complaint, the company also sent a detailed Voluntary Separation Program (VSP).

According to the VSP, employees will receive up to twenty weeks of paid severance in addition to 22 weeks of base pay, one week's base pay for every six months of service (rounded to the nearest 6 months), and one week's base pay for every year of service.  Furthermore, employees will get 6 months of medical insurance coverage under the Insurance Benefit policy, or an equivalent insurance premium amount in lieu.

Amazon representatives told government officials that the employees would not be fired. They stated that because the company is trying to cut costs, the VSP letter was sent as a mass email to the unit within the company where engineers build tools to improve the employee experience. Amazon told government officials that employees could accept or reject the VSP offer, but they would not be laid off.

CONCLUSION

Amazon India has decided to shut down ‘Amazon Distribution’, The moves are part of the annual operating planning review process amid global macroeconomic uncertainty. Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Hubli are the cities in which the distribution vertical operates. It buys fast-moving consumer goods from businesses and distributes them wholesale to local shops like kirana stores, pharmacies, and department stores to support small businesses.Amazon Distribution is distinct from Amazon Business, Amazon.in's B2B marketplace that serves the business procurement needs of institutions such as hospitals, manufacturers, universities, schools, government agencies, and offices. When compared to the 'Amazon Business' platform, the 'Amazon Distribution' business is only 4% the size.