No Employee Was Sacked, All Exits Were Voluntary. Amazon India Tells Labour Ministry: Report

Amazon’s response came after a petition by a Pune-based employee union claimed that Amazon forcibly terminated a large number of employees in India

In the last few weeks, Amazon has laid off 3 per cent of its total workforce.

Amazon India told the labour ministry that it has not laid off any employees and has only let go of those who accepted the severance package and existed on their own, a report by the Economic Times (ET) revealed. Amazon’s response came after a petition by a Pune-based employee union claimed that Amazon forcibly terminated a large number of employees in India.

Pune-based employee union, Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has filed a petition with Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav. Amazon's representative on Wednesday submitted their statement before the deputy labour commissioner of the Union labour ministry in Bengaluru. They have denied all the allegations against the company, the report said.

No representative of NITES was present at the hearing, the report added.

Amazon stated that its reviews employees annually across verticals and checks if it requires realignment. The workers were free to choose or reject the realignment scheme. If they accept the scheme, they would get a "fair severance package". The company claimed that no one was asked to leave the organisation, instead, they were advised to act on their own.

In the last few weeks, Amazon has laid off 3 per cent of its total workforce. Around 10,000 employees were let go. On November 18, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees that there will be more layoffs at the company in early 2023 “as leaders continue to make adjustments”. 

“We haven't concluded yet exactly how many other roles will be impacted (we know that there will be reductions in our Stores and PXT organisations), but each leader will communicate to their respective teams when we have the details nailed down,” Sassy added.

"This year's review is more difficult due to the fact that the economy remains in a challenging spot and we've hired rapidly the last several years," said Jassy.