Amazon Singapore cuts jobs, phases out local fulfilment operations

SINGAPORE: In a statement issued on Thursday (May 7), Amazon said it would be cutting a “small number of roles” in Singapore. The move comes as the world’s largest e-commerce retailer announced its decision to phase out its local fulfilment services, including the Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service.

The company explained that it had started Amazon Singapore in 2019 after hearing that customers wanted a local storefront that would make international shopping easier, with options for local currency and payment, local deal events, and Prime benefits tailored for Singapore residents. 

“Over time, we’ve learned that what customers value most about Amazon.sg is the broad international selection from Amazon’s US, Japan, and Germany stores, with the majority of units sold from our International Store,” Amazon said in the statement. This has prompted the company’s decision to prioritise investment in expanding the Amazon International Store selection on Amazon.sg.

The retail giant acknowledged that its choice has impacted vendors and sellers, saying that it is working to transition sellers to alternative ways to continue to serve Singapore customers. 

As for the affected employees, Amazon said it is helping them find new roles within the company wherever possible, and for those unable to find a new role or choose not to pursue one, transition support, including severance payments and career transition services, has been offered.

“Amazon remains deeply committed to Singapore and our investments across our retail, Global Selling, entertainment, devices, and AWS business lines, employing 2,500 people in the country,” the statement reads.

Recent layoffs

In November, Amazon cut around 14,000 roles across a number of divisions, including 1,800 engineers. Almost 40% of more than 4,700 job cuts in New York, California, New Jersey, and Washington were engineering roles, CNBC reported at the time. The filings showed a mix of software engineer levels, though SDE II roles, or mid-level employees, were disproportionately affected. 

The layoffs occurred as Amazon has been shifting resources to invest more in Artificial Intelligence, although the company said that this was not the reason behind the vast majority of job cuts and that the company’s bigger goal was to reduce bureaucracy and emphasise speed.

In January, another 16,000 roles were cut.

Last month, a rumour that another 14,000 employees would be axed soon went viral, but was promptly denied by Amazon. /TISG

Read also: ‘No new layoffs’: Amazon denies viral report, but workers remain uneasy