Amazon plans to lay off 370 employees at its European headquarters in Luxembourg in the coming weeks, or about 8.5% of its total workforce. The company originally planned to cut 470 jobs, but that number was revised due to EU legislation.
Amazon plans to lay off 370 employees at its European headquarters in Luxembourg in the coming weeks, or about 8.5% of its total workforce. The company originally planned to cut 470 jobs, but that number was revised due to EU legislation.
Amazon is the fifth-largest employer in Luxembourg, which has a population of 680,000. The layoffs would be the largest in the country in two decades. The company's European headquarters in Luxembourg employs 4,370 people.
The biggest job cuts are likely to be in software developers, according to a Bloomberg source. This comes as tech companies increasingly shift coding tasks to artificial intelligence. Amazon is also cutting staff after a period of over-hiring during the pandemic-era e-commerce boom.
In a memo to employees at its European headquarters, Amazon explained the layoffs as “adjustments that reflect business needs and local strategies.” The company says its compensation packages in Luxembourg “significantly exceed industry standards.”
The layoffs are particularly difficult for foreign workers who moved to Luxembourg to work for Amazon. To continue living in the duchy, laid-off workers from India, the United States, Australia, Egypt, Tunisia and other countries must find new jobs within three months. That can be difficult, as hundreds of people enter the job market in a small country at the same time.
The layoffs are part of a massive 14,000 job cuts Amazon announced in October. The same month, it revealed plans to expand its robotics operations, which could put more than half a million jobs in the U.S. at risk .
