Amazon has announced that it’s putting a freeze on new hires in its corporate workforce for the next few months. It said that it had hired a lot of people in the last few years but due to the economic situation getting worse, it has decided to limit new hires to backfills to replace employees who move on, and a few targeted roles. With companies like Stripe laying off employees, those who become redundant will have a slightly tougher time finding new employment, with Amazon freezing new hires for a while.
According to Beth Galetti, Senior VP of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, the decision to freeze hiring will push Amazon’s existing teams to prioritize the projects that matter most to customers and the business. She also said that teams will have to find ways to become more productive, a buzzword we’ve heard from the likes of Google.
While the picture is grim for those currently looking for a new job, Amazon says it’s looking to hire a “meaningful number of people in 2023”. What’s also good news is that the company seems to be pushing ahead with projects like Prime Video, Alexa, Grocery, Kuiper, Zoox, and Healthcare – some other tech companies have decided to axe projects citing their unprofitable nature.
Galetti’s statement was initially written as an email to employees yesterday. She said that staff who have questions about the pause on incremental hiring for the next few months and how it’ll affect their team can speak to their manager in the coming days.
Source: Amazon