Amazon to axe 18,000 jobs
Amazon has announced plans to cut more than 18,000 jobs worldwide across its operations. The firm has depots in Hoo and Dartford, as well as an Amazon Fresh store in Sevenoaks.
An Amazon lorry leaves the Hoo depot
CEO Andy Jassy revealed on Thursday, January 5, the company would eliminate more than 18,000 roles across several teams, including in its Amazon Stores and People, Experience, and Technology (PXT) organisations. These job cuts include some previously announced in November, including axing a number of positions in the Devices and Books businesses, and a voluntary reduction offer for some PXT employees.
Mr Jassy continued: “We are deeply aware that these role eliminations are difficult for people, and we don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted.
“We are working to support those who are affected and are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support.” The company will communicate with impacted employees starting on January 18, but decided to make the announcement early after “one of [its] teammates leaked this information externally”.
Inside Dartford’s Amazon warehouse. Picture: Amazon
In the south east, which includes Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent, Amazon has more than 4,000 full and part-time jobs. Amazon’s GBP205m warehouse near the Dartford Crossing opened in 2021, when a mass local recruitment drive saw it offer 1,300 permanent positions and up to 600 seasonal positions.
Its distribution centre near Kingsnorth Industrial Estate, Hoo, opened in 2018, creating 200 permanent jobs in Medway.
The company also opened the UK’s first in-person 4-star store in Bluewater Shopping Centre in October 2021. The store sold items such as books, toys, and technology like Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets and Echo Dots, all of which had been rated four stars or higher on its website.
Outside of Amazon’s warehouse in Rennie Drive, Dartford. Picture: Amazon
It closed in May last year, just months after its grand opening, with the retail giant saying it would focus on other traditional retail ventures, such as Amazon Fresh. Amazon Fresh stores have no tills and items are instead scanned to the Amazon app and paid for via the shopper’s Amazon account.
The retail giant’s ‘Just Walk Out’ technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves, and customers can then leave the store without having to queue for a check-out, and the charge is automatically made to their account. The Sevenoaks store opened in June last year in the Bligh’s Meadow shopping centre, selling the company’s own branded food goods and groceries. The company has invested more than GBP490 million in Kent since 2010, which, in turn, is estimated to have contributed more than GBP500 million to the county’s GDP.
Amazon Fresh store opens in Bligh Meadow Shopping Centre in Sevenoaks
Amazon Fresh, Picture: Amazon
The county also has around 2,000 small and medium businesses which partner with Amazon to sell their products, which in total recorded around GBP30 million of export sales in 2021.
The company, which employs around 1.5 million people worldwide, has yet to confirm whether its Dartford and Hoo warehouses or Sevenoaks Fresh store will be affected by the job cuts, with more news likely to be revealed after communications with its impacted staff later this month.