Amazon lays off 370 employees at its European headquarters in Luxembourg, which constitutes about 8.5% of the 4,370 employees that it employs there. This is the highest layoff in the country for over two decades. The announcement of the layoff follows its strategic shift towards artificial intelligence and efficiency, as it had stated back in October to cut 14,000 jobs worldwide.
Amazon is working to make things run smoothly by shifting to AI, and the planned layoffs at the Luxembourg headquarters reflect that. The company had initially planned to cut 470 jobs but reduced the number to 370 after talks with staff delegates; the European Union labor laws require companies to negotiate the layoffs with employee representatives.
Jobless employees due to Amazon layoffs face difficulty
According to Bloomberg, one of the Amazon employees told them that the layoff means hundreds of people would look for a new job simultaneously and would struggle to find a new job in a country of 680,000. The jobless employees who came from other countries now face a problem to find a new job in three months or leave Luxemborg.
Prash Chandrasekhar, a staff delegation representative, told the Luxemborg times that,”370 is a very big number, but considering where we started, it feels a little better.” He further added that “it’s still a big impact and will put pressure on Luxembourg.”
The layoffs take place in February, and Amazon has offered compensation packages that are better than other plans in Luxembourg, though the details of compensation packages are confidential.
Despite Amazon layoffs, Luxembourg is still a key partner
Amazon still reminas one of the largest employers in the country. Back in November when Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden met with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in Seattle, the company’s leadership gave assurances that Luxembourg “remains the strategic partner in Europe.”
Amazon is still hiring people in Luxembourg in key strategic areas even though it is reducing its workforce.
