Lost my father and now job: Indian software engineer who worked at Amazon for 5 years gets laid off
Amazon has begun layoffs globally, including India. While the company hasn’t clearly mentioned the number of employees to be impacted by layoffs in India, reports suggest that around 1 per cent of employees will be affected, which is around 1,000. The company has around 1 lakh employees working from India. The company has started informing impacted employees through email, and the process is said to go on for a couple of more days. Now, people who received the mail have taken to LinkedIn and Twitter to share the update and ask for newer job opportunities.
Among the thousands impacted by the layoffs is Omprakash Sharma, a Gurugram-based software engineer who worked for Amazon for five years. Sharma, who was a senior development engineer at Amazon, took to LinkedIn to share that he was laid off on January 11 and open for newer job opportunities. He also shared that it is a big loss for him because just a few months ago he lost his father and now his job is gone.
“Year 2022 has been the most challenging year of my life. First I lost my father, after he struggled 2 to 3 months in ICU, due to which I was off from work for almost 4 months. Now on Jan 11, I am impacted by the recent layoffs done by Amazon," Sharma wrote in his LinkedIn post.
In the same post, Sharma wrote about his experience at Amazon. Sharma said that he has been a part of the firm for the last 5 years and had a wonderful time in his job life. ''I have enjoyed every bit of it working with some of the smartest folks in the industry, and learned great lessons of corporate life. I got the opportunity to work on large-scale, customer-facing, complex and innovative design problems. I am thankful of everyone who supported me during this time,'' he wrote in the same LinkedIn post.
Impacted by ongoing Amazon layoffs, Sharma tried to motivate hundreds of other employees through the post and urged everyone to stay positive. ''For the folks who are in the same boat, while this is tough time, stay positive, stay motivated. These small interruptions in life won't stop from moving forward, fight back and come back stronger. I need a little help from you, please spread the word around so that I get the right opportunity,'' the impacted Amazon employee responded.
Amazon hasn’t revealed the specific number of employees laid off from India but reports estimate it to be around 1000, which is 1 per cent of the total workforce in the country. The impacted employees are getting an email and Amazon is also offering severance of around 5 months. The company CEO Andy Jassy previously announced to offer severance pay, health benefits and other required support. At the time of announcing the layoff details, Jassy blamed the "uncertain economy" as one of the key reasons behind the job cuts. The Amazon CEO also said that the company hired rapidly during the pandemic, which is also one the major reasons responsible for layoffs.
Announcing layoffs, Amazon CEO said the company is "working to support those who are affected and are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support."
