Amazon has frozen corporate hiring in its retail operations for the rest of the year, making it the latest company to pull out amid economic uncertainty, according to an internal announcement obtained by The New York Times.
The company has halted global hiring for all corporate roles, including technical positions, in Amazon’s physical and online retail operations and its stores business, which covers its logistics operations, according to an emailed announcement to recruiters. As of Monday night, there were more than 10,000 job postings in the division, which accounts for the bulk of Amazon’s sales.
A broad freeze won’t affect the company’s more profitable cloud computing division. Some roles, such as student hiring and field positions, were not covered by the suspension, according to the email.
“Amazon continues to have a significant number of open positions across the company. Some parts of the business are more mature than others,” Amazon spokesman Brad Glasser said in a statement. , “I expect to continue to adjust the hiring strategies of each of these businesses at different times,” he said.
The freeze on the second-largest private employer in the US is part of a broader job market downturn, or at least another sign that it’s no longer a flurry.
On Tuesday, the Labor Department released data showing that while many parts of the job market remain strong, employers are reducing the number of roles they are trying to fill. 10.1 million, down from 11.2 million in July. Officials at the US Federal Reserve (Fed) hope higher interest rates will cut jobs and put more pressure on wages, lowering inflation without the need for widespread layoffs.
After a period of high hiring bonuses, raises and shortages, employers have found themselves somewhat less competitive to attract and retain workers. to 1.5 million, but still below the historical average.
Layoffs and a slowdown in hiring have hit wide swaths of the tech industry in recent months. This includes startups as well as public companies such as Peloton and Shopify. Peloton and Shopify announced they would furlough his 10% of employees in late July after mispredicting how much e-commerce would boom as the pandemic recedes.
Large companies are no exception. Facebook’s parent company Meta told employees last week it was freezing most positions.
The economy is changing at a critical time as we move forward into the all-important holiday shopping season for retailers. Many companies, including Amazon, are hoping to start the season early as customers are looking for deals and announcing October sale dates. Amazon’s new Prime Early Access sale is next week.
As consumers cut discretionary spending amid high inflation, costs and inventories rose, suggesting that many are having a tough time.
Walmart, the country’s largest private employer, reduce hiring of hourly workers for this holiday shopping season. His FedEx, which competes with Amazon in delivering parcels to customers, said last month it was freezing hiring, closing stores and parking planes because demand fell short of expectations.
Amazon told recruiters to tell job seekers they weren’t on a hiring freeze, but said it had to close all open jobs in the next few days. He said the new store could open early next year.
Candidates scheduled for interviews before October 15th will still be able to receive offers, but will not be able to start on Amazon until next year. It recommended that other early recruitment activities be suspended.
Amazon’s listings show it still hires warehouse workers it needs regularly due to high turnover. It has not yet announced whether it will hire seasonal workers during the peak holiday season.
Under Andy Jassy, who took over as chief executive just over a year ago, Amazon has cut spending as it seeks to cut costs amid its weakest growth in two decades.
Jassy recently told investors the company is focused on controlling the cost and efficiency of its warehouse and logistics operations. Amazon’s footprint has grown rapidly in recent years, and during the pandemic the company continued to employ unmatched in corporate America history. , withdrew leases and stopped some new buildings.
The company hired 1.52 million people in the second quarter, about 100,000 fewer than at the end of March, mainly due to a reduction in the hourly workforce.
The corporate hiring freeze is the latest sign that cost control measures are also hitting Amazon’s core retail and tech teams. After announcing plans to acquire One Medical, a chain of primary care clinics, Amazon is shutting down its own primary care business, prompting officials in Amazon’s home state of Washington to say the move could have consequences. I told you. 159 layoffs.
In recent years, Amazon held a Career Day in September and recruited tens of thousands of salary positions. Last year, we received more than 1 million job applications. However, the event was not held this year.
And last month, at the company’s annual Device Day, products were markedly more subdued than before when they debuted consumer products. Focused on updates.
Past events have included printers for post-it notes, Alexa-enabled rings, indoor home security camera drones, and many other quirky products that clearly limit consumer potential.