Amazon has announced it is pausing hiring for roles in its corporate workforce as it continues to cut back on expenses.
The announcement was made via a staff memo which was sent out on Thursday.
Last month, Amazon said it was halting new hires in corporate positions within its retail business, this update however affects the entire corporate workforce at the US ecommerce giant.
The memo, which was written by Amazon’s HR chief Beth Galetti, said that the company was moving to further restrict new hiring amid the worsening economic outlook.
“We anticipate keeping this pause in place for the next few months, and will continue to monitor what we’re seeing in the economy and the business to adjust as we think makes sense,” Galetti wrote.
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Galetti said it will backfill roles to replace employees who are leaving for new opportunities, but it will continue to “hire people incrementally” in some areas.
Amazon initiated a large-scale hiring spree during the pandemic as its business boomed and it sought to keep up with demand.
However, since then it has moved to slow headcount growth as consumers have returned to bricks-and-mortar retail stores.
The recent levels of inflation and soaring interest rates have prompted company CEO Andy Jassy to bring in measures to curtail expenses across the brand.
This has included shedding warehouse space, cancelling experimental projects, closing bricks-and-mortar store locations and terminating its Telehealth service.
In Q3, Amazon’s headcount grew by just 5% year-on-year to 1.54 million employees across the global business.
