Amazon announces 10,000 layoffs

WE NEED TO START WITH THE AMAZON NEWS TODAY, MOVING HIGHER IN THE LAST FEW MINUTES IN THE WAKE OF “THE NEW YORK TIMES” STORY, WHICH JUST BROKE, REPORTING THE COMPANY PLANS TO LAY OFF AROUND 10,000 EMPLOYEES THEY’RE NOT THE ONLY BIG TECH NAME TALKING ABOUT COST CUTS TODAY. APPLE SHARES TRADING LOWER AFTER CEO TIM COOK CONFIRMED REPORTS OF HIRING SLOWDOWNS AT THE COMPANY, SAYING THE KEY TO SUCCESS ISN’T KEEPING COSTS LOW BUT INVESTING IN THE BUSINESS CORRECTLY. TAKE A LISTEN. >> WE’RE BEING VERY DELIBERATE ON OUR HIRING. THAT MEANS WE’RE CONTINUING TO HIRE BUT NOT

EVERYWHERE IN THE COMPANY ARE WE HIRING. WE BELIEVE STRONGLY INVESTING FOR THE LONG TERM. AND WE DON’T BELIEVE YOU CAN SAVE YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY. WE THINK YOU INVEST YOUR WAY TO IT >> AS FOR THE TIMES, JON, THE TIMES DOES SAY THE TOTAL NUMBER REMAINS FLUID, BUT IF IT STAYS AROUND 10,000, ROUGHLY 3% OF CORPORATE AND LESS THAN 1% OF THEIR GLOBAL WORKFORCE, OBVIOUSLY, MORE THAN A MILLION >> YEAH, I THINK THE TIMING HERE IS IMPORTANT THIS IS HAPPENING RIGHT BEFORE THE BIGGEST WEEK OR TWO OF THE YEAR, OF THE HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON AND

AMAZON SHOPPING SEASON ALSO IN A YEAR WHERE THEY IN AN UNUSUAL WAY DID A SECOND PRIME DAY RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF Q4, AND THAT SEEMED TO BE A LITTLE LACKLUSTER. SO AMAZON’S PROBABLY DOING THIS BASED ON EXPECTATIONS, BASED

ON DATA, AND YES, THIS IS WHAT COMPANIES DO AROUND Q4, IS THEY TRY TO POSITION THEMSELVES FOR THE NEXT YEAR, FOR 2023, BASED ON A REASONABLE SCENARIO OF WHAT THEY THINK THEY CAN EXPECT ALSO, I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS, AMAZON HAS SHIFTED HOW IT DOES COMPENSATION FOR CORPORATE EMPLOYEES MORE

TOWARD CASH, A LITTLE LESS TOWARD EQUITY THEY TENDED TO HAVE A PRETTY LOW RELATIVE TO OTHER COMPANIES AMOUNT OF CASH SALARY THEY PAY OUT AND REALLY TILTED TOWARD EQUITY IN THIS TIME WHEN PERHAPS EMPLOYEES WOULD DO BETTER TO TAKE MORE EQUITY IF THEY CAN, BECAUSE THE STOCK IS LOW, GETTING NEW EQUITY GRANTS, THEY HAVE BEEN TILTING TOWARD CASH. THIS IS SORT OF AUSTERITY HEADING INTO 2023, AND I’M NOT SUREWE HAVE INDICATIONS THIS I NECESSARILY THE BOTTOM IT MIGHT JUST BE THE DEBEENING >> AUSTERITY KIND OF I GUESS, BUT 10,000 EMPLOYEES, THAT IS REALLY A DROP

IN THE BUCKET FOR A COMPANY LIKE AMAZON, THAT AS OF THE END OF LAST QUARTER HAD 1.5 MILLION EMPLOYEES. THESE ARE CORPORATE EMPLOYEES. THAT REPORTS SAY THEY’RE LAYING OFF AND POTENTIALLY THE E-COMMERCE DIVISION, THE DEVICES DIVISION REMEMBER THAT JOURNAL REPORT LAST WEEK, THE ALEXA UNIT COULD LOSE AS MUCH AS $5 BILLION A YEAR BUT AGAIN, THIS IS JUST SUCH A SMALL PERCENTAGE, CARL, AND WE’RE NOT SEEING IT AT THE WAREHOUSE LEVEL. MORE OF THE SERVICES SIDE, WHICH WOULD MEAN MORE SOFTENING OF THE ECONOMY, THIS IS SORT OF IN LINE WITH WHAT META IS DOING, 11,000

EMPLOYEES THERE IS A MUCH LARGER PERCENTAGE, BUT IT STILL ONLY TAKES THEM BACK A FEW YEARS. I’M LOOKING AT THE LATEST QUARTERLY REPORT FROM AMAZON Q2, 2021, THEY HIRED, INCREASED THEIR WORKFORCE BY 52%, AND THAT DOESN’T EVEN INCLUDE CONTRACTORS AND TEMPORARY PERSONNEL. SO IT REALLY DOES SHOW YOU, AGAIN, HOW MUCH THESE COMPANIES, THE BIG TECH COMPANIES, HAVE BEEN HIRING. THE HEADLINES WILL KEEP COMING IN THE COMMENTS FROM TIM COOK ARE IMPORTANT AS WEM PROBABLY A LONG WAY TO GO HERE, CARL >> ALSO, KIND OF, GUYS, PUTS INTO SHARPER CONTEXT WHAT BEZOS TOLD CNN THIS MORN,

THAT WAS ADVICE TO AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS, GLOBAL HOUSEHOLDS REALLY, AND GLOBAL SMALL BUSINESSES ABOUT IN HIS WORDS TAKING SOME RISK OFF THE TABLE. HERE’S WHAT HE SAID. >> IF YOU’RE AN INDIVIDUAL AND THINKING ABOUT BUYING A LARGE SCREEN TV, MAYBE SLOW THAT DOWN, KEEP THAT CASH, SEE WHAT HAPPENS. SAME THING WITH A REFRIGERATOR, A NEW CAR, WHATEVER. TAKE SOME RISK OFF THE TABLE IF YOU’RE A SMALL BUSINESS, MAYBE DELAY SOME CAPITAL PURCHASES. DO YOU REALLY NEED THAT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT? MAYBE IT CAN WAIT A BIT. HAVE SOME CASH ON HAND JUST A LITTLE RISK