Amazon axes Halo gear as job cuts hit cloud segment
- Reference: 1682613133
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/04/27/amazon_halo_job_cuts/
- Source link:
The layoffs are part of [1]18,000 jobs cuts that Amazon confirmed in January, which together with the [2]9,000 redundancies confirmed in March , will mean altogether 27,000 roles have been eliminated in months – 7.5 percent of the megacorp's workforce.
"It is a tough day across our organization," Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky [3]reportedly wrote in the memo announcing that some cloud and HR staffers would lose their jobs.
[4]
Implying the business was reversing an unsustainable increase in headcount made during the pandemic, Selipsky added: "Given this rapid growth, as well as the overall business and macroeconomic climate, it is critical that we focus on identifying and putting our resources behind our top priorities — those things that matter most to customers and that will move the needle for our business.
[5]
[6]
"In many cases this means team members are shifting the projects, initiatives or teams on which they work; however, in other cases it has resulted in these role eliminations."
Meanwhile, retail staffers at Amazon said [7]today it would stop supporting Halo devices and the Halo app on July 31, promising to refund anyone who bought the kit to check their health, fitness and sleep patterns within the past year.
[8]
Lockdown walks are history, too
"For employees who are impacted by this decision, we are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support," Amazon added.
As for Gloucestershire-based Book Depository, which was [9]bought by Amazon in 2011, customers were able to place orders until noon UK time yesterday (April 26). The company said it would continue to provide support to customers with their orders until June 23, adding: "From all of us at Book Depository we want to say 'thank you.' Delivering your favourite reads to you since 2007 has been a pleasure."
[10]
Book Depository famously offered free delivery to 100 countries with no minimum spend and would bring out-of-print titles back to life under its Dodo Press imprint. It's not known how many roles were affected by its closure.
[11]UK gov chews over Amazon Book Depository engulfment
[12]Amazon to shutter Digital Photography Review
[13]Amazon, Bing, Wikipedia make EU's list of 'Very Large' platforms
[14]Fitbit users will have to sign into Google from 2023
The bookseller's shuttering comes as Amazon continues to making drastic cuts to its workforce and devices and books units to [15]reduce costs , as Amazon CEO Andy Jassy promised in the January 5 memo, when he noted the company would be tightening its belt in response to a slowdown in consumer spending.
The retailer also closed the doors on respected photography community website [16]DPReview last month as profits faltered and growth slowed post-pandemic.
Shares were up 2 percent this morning, though one couldn't say if this is the effect of the job cuts, the retail sector cuts, or both. Amazon will report its results for first quarter 2023 tonight.
We have asked Amazon for comment. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/05/tech_workers_in_the_firing/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/20/amazon_9000_layoffs/
[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/26/amazon-starts-layoffs-impacting-hr-and-aws-cloud-unit.html
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZErwgsz3ew@UCuildxtpZwAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZErwgsz3ew@UCuildxtpZwAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZErwgsz3ew@UCuildxtpZwAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-halo-discontinued
[8] https://regmedia.co.uk/2023/04/27/shutterstock_halo.jpg
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2011/07/06/oft_amazon_the_book_repository/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZErwgsz3ew@UCuildxtpZwAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2011/07/06/oft_amazon_the_book_repository/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/22/amazon_plans_to_shut_digital/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/26/amazon_app_store_bookingcom_and/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/23/fitbit_accounts_to_be_replaced/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/05/tech_workers_in_the_firing/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/22/amazon_plans_to_shut_digital/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Let the management buy-out the "failures"
Corporates buying them axing seem wasteful. Usually, these businesses are viable, just use too much senior management time in relation to their up-side.
I wonder if these businesses were offered to the original owners?
Re: Let the management buy-out the "failures"
Not very environmentally friendly bricking all those devices at a stroke without updating them to work on their own not needing the cloud.
So they're stopping supporting an app that relies on a remote server. It's just as well Amazon doesn't offer such remote services elsewhere, otherwise it might cause customers of such products to worry that they might be next.
So they're stopping supporting an app that relies on a remote server. It's just as well Amazon doesn't offer such remote services elsewhere, otherwise it might cause customers of such products to worry that they might be next.
This is one of the reasons I try not to use tech that relies solely on the cloud or an internet service and can’t function as a stand alone item. There are too many examples of this which have graced the pages of this venerable website. Like the bloke who despite my requirements being clearly explained, tried to sell me cameras that connected to and/or relied on a cloud service. I had expressed a desire to have the camera on a closed loop system. When I said I wasn’t interested and he asked why not I said to avoid support ending and bricking the camera.
Results are out today
Yesterdays News - Amazon sacks 9,000 staff, mainly from AWS
Today's News - Amazon Results are out
Revenues grew 9 per cent to $127.4bn
Revenue at Amazon Web Services, its cloud unit, grew 16 per cent to $21.4bn in the quarter.
Andy Jassy, Amazon chief executive, said “We like the fundamentals we’re seeing in AWS, and believe there’s much growth ahead.”
Kind of speaks for itself.
Re: Results are out today
It all goes back to this:
https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2023-01-30/column-how-big-tech-is-using-mass-layoffs-to-bring-workers-to-heel
Halo Gear
I was surprised to read about "Halo Gear" in your article, and wondered what sort of things they would be ... until I saw the photo and realized you were writing about a different Halo (a health something-or-other) than the Bungie/Now-Microsoft computer game.
No Master Sergeant armor on offer, then...