The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Union labour ministry summons Amazon over layoffs

    Synopsis

    The development comes after a complaint filed by the employee union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) in which it has alleged Amazon of violating labour laws.

    AmazonETtech
    The Union Labour Ministry has summoned Amazon India to appear before the deputy chief labour commissioner in Bengaluru on Wednesday in connection with the alleged forced terminations by the company.

    "You (Amazon) are therefore requested to attend this office with all relevant records in the matter either personally or through an authoriSed representative on the aforesaid date and time without fail," the Ministry's notice issued on Tuesday read.

    Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses

    Offering CollegeCourseWebsite
    IIM LucknowIIML Executive Programme in FinTech, Banking & Applied Risk ManagementVisit
    IIM KozhikodeIIMK Advanced Data Science For ManagersVisit
    Indian School of BusinessISB Product ManagementVisit
    The development comes after a complaint filed by the employee union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) in which it has alleged Amazon of violating labour laws.

    In a letter to Union Labor Minister Bhupender Yadav, NITES claimed that Amazon staffers were removed forcefully from the company.

    Pressing for inquiry, the union maintained that a Voluntary Separation Programme has been sent to employees giving a deadline of November 30 to complete the process.

    NITES claimed that as a result of this the livelihood of many are at stake.

    Underlying the Industries Disputes Act, it argued that without permission from the government, an employer cannot be laid off.

    NITES President Harpreet Saluja told the media that the union looked forward for justice for the employees.

    He also added that unethical Voluntary Separation Policy mooted by the Amazon would be scrapped by the government and the action by the authorities has provided a sigh of relief for the employees.

    Mass layoffs

    According to a New York Times report last week, Amazon Inc had announced it was planning to lay off around 10,000 employees in corporate and technology roles in what will be the company’s biggest such reduction to date.

    Amazon notified the regional authorities in California that it would lay off about 260 workers at various facilities employing data scientists, software engineers, and corporate workers. The job cuts would be effective from January 17.

    However, Amazon did not specify how many more layoffs are in the offing beyond the ones confirmed through California's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which requires firms with 75 or more full-time or part-time workers to provide 60 days’ notice.

    The Seattle-headquartered Amazon is predicting a slowdown in sales growth for the typically lucrative holiday season, much like Big Tech firms Meta, Twitter, Snap and Uber, among others.

    India impact

    In India, Amazon’s layoffs could potentially affect at least a few hundred employees across divisions, as part of its global plan to deal with slowing sales, ET reported on November 16.

    The company operates various businesses in India, including ecommerce, data centres under Amazon Web Services, and Prime Video.

    While the exact number of layoffs has not yet been finalised, sources told ET the cuts could go ‘deeper’ than a few hundred, given the size of Amazon’s India workforce, which is estimated to be 100,000.

    “The retrenchment is happening here (India) and discussions are underway on the numbers,” one of them said. “There is a sense it might be relatively higher as compared to peers like Meta-owned Facebook and others, where India was not affected in a big way.”
    The Economic Times

    Stories you might be interested in