Amazon to Shut Down its three verticals in India

Nov 29, 2022: Amidst the current economic slowdown, Amazon is set to shut down three of its businesses in India. The company will be shutting down its wholesale distribution channel, food delivery service and ed-tech venture.

Currently, the U.S -based tech company is focusing on cost-cutting measures amidst the global economic slowdown. In a statement to the media, Amazon confirmed that the company will no longer continue with Amazon Distribution, their wholesale e-commerce division, as part of the annual operating planning review process. The service will no longer be available starting from December 29, 2022.

This is the third business the company has discontinued in India. Earlier this year, the global tech giant had announced its plan to discontinue its food delivery service – Amazon Food and ed-tech venture- Amazon academy. The Amazon food delivery service, which was started in 2020, will now stop from December 29. Additionally, the company will also discontinue its ed-tech segment – Amazon Academy from August next year. The Amazon Academy had been started as an online learning platform for engineering students to prepare for competitive exams like the JEE.

The company also recently laid off around 10,000 employees from its global workforce. In an official statement, company CEO Andy Jassy stated that the layoffs and announced that the firings will continue in the coming months of 2023. However, all the employees have not been fired directly. The company has urged its employees to switch teams within a few weeks or has directed them to voluntarily resign by signing up for the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP).

As per the VSP, the employees will be getting 22 weeks of Base Pay, one-week base salary for every six months of service (rounded to the nearest 6 months), up to twenty weeks’ paid severance. Along with that the employees will also get medical Insurance coverage for 6 months under the Insurance Benefit policy or an equivalent insurance premium amount in lieu. However, if the employees are under performance improvement programs (PIP) they will not be able to sign up for VSP.