Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images
The ecommerce giant is in the midst of laying off around 10,000 employees, including staff from its retail and human resources divisions, as well as teams that worked on the now-axed voice assistant Alexa.
Dave Limp, senior vice president of devices and services at Amazon, published a November 17 team memo pointing to "an unusual and uncertain" economy.
Limp said that Amazon would provide "external job placement support," with CEO Andy Jassy reiterating the same benefit in a separate November 18 memo. Neither memo provided further details.
Amazon's severance package has not been publicly released, but the company is offering some employees voluntary buyouts as an additional way of cutting its headcount, CNBC reported, citing internal company memos.
Employees taking up the offer have until November 29 to resign, and until December 5 to withdraw their applications if they change their minds, per CNBC.
Amazon posted a drop in net income to $2.9 billion in the third quarter this year, down from $3.2 billion in the same quarter in 2021.
Percentage of staff laid off: roughly 3% of corporate workforce if 10,000 employees are laid off, per The New York Times
Minimum severance pay: three months of salary, per Amazon's voluntary severance memos
Additional severance pay: one week for every six months of tenure, per Amazon's voluntary severance memos
Health insurance: covered until December, with weekly stipends for 12 weeks to offset COBRA premiums, per Amazon's voluntary severance memos
Immigration support: no public mention
Other benefits: promises of external job placement support
November 22, 2022: This story was updated to include details of Amazon's "voluntary severance" package.
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