By
Chimamanda U. Martha
March 11th, 2024
Following a hiring pause in retail business roles, Amazon has announced a similar decision for its corporate workforce.
Amazon is reportedly pausing hiring for roles in its corporate workspace, according to a recent memo released by the e-commerce giant to staff. Beth Galetti, head of HR at the company, explained in the memo that the worsening economic situation influenced this decision. Galetti also stated that the Amazon hiring pause works for now because the tech company previously hired rapidly in recent years. As the Amazon HR chief put it:
“We anticipate keeping this pause in place for the next few months, and will continue to monitor what we’re seeing in the economy and the business to adjust as we think makes sense.”
With fewer people coming on board, Amazon says this affords already existing teams an opportunity to prioritize customer and business needs. In addition, the e-commerce, cloud computing and digital streaming retail giant also stated that it expects each team to be more productive.
Although the Amazon hiring pause holds sway at the moment, the multinational will backfill vacancies created by staff who leave the company for new opportunities. Furthermore, Galetti stated that Amazon would continue to hire people on an incremental basis in some targeted areas. The memo read:
“[Amazon] still intends to hire a meaningful number of people in 2023, and [remains] excited about our significant investments in our larger businesses, as well as newer initiatives like Prime Video, Alexa, Grocery, Kuiper, Zoox, and Healthcare.”
Latest Amazon Hiring Pause Follows Similar October Freeze
The Amazon corporate workforce freeze comes a month after the leading e-commerce platform suspended retail business hiring. On October 4th, Amazon announced that it would suspend hiring for corporate roles in the company’s retail business, also amid fears of an economic downturn. At the time the tech platform specifically asked recruiters to close all open job postings for said roles, and cancel some recruiting activities.
Covid-induced Hiring Spree
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Amazon embarked on a hiring spree to keep up with the influx of demand for online goods. This demand rush was precipitated by the stay-at-home orders from the lockdown, which prevented people from physically going out to shop. However, Covid restrictions eased, Amazon has reverted to a much slower headcount growth with vastly increased numbers of people returning to brick-and-mortar stores. Consequently, Amazon’s retail business has also dropped off the nuclear growth trajectory pace that characterized it in recent years.
Amazon has also adjusted to these less favorable optics, with CEO Andy Jassy drastically cutting down on expenses in recent months. These frugal measures include putting a stop to some experimental projects, discontinuing its telehealth service, and closing down warehouses across the US. The company’s excess warehouse space had come about during its expansion in the pandemic era to accommodate more operability.
Amazon has headquarters in Seattle Washington and Arlington Virginia. The company also operates corporate facilities in Tennessee, Silicon Valley, and New York.