New wave of layoffs: Amazon, Vimeo, Twitter and even McDonald's plan massive layoffs in 2023

Major multinational companies will continue to downsize and reduce the number of job openings this year, fearing an economic crisis. Mass layoffs are planned at Amazon, Vimeo, Twitter, and even McDonald's in the coming months.

Amazon will cut more than 18,000 employees

Amazon is about to make the largest staff reduction in the company's history: more than 18,000 employees will be laid off, although recently it was planned to cut only about 10,000.

According to media reports, many employees of offline stores Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go will be laid off, large cuts are also planned in the device development department (including the voice assistant Alexa), as well as in HR. The Guardian estimates that at least 6% of the company's workforce will be cut.

Interestingly, the company's investors were positive to the decision to reduce staff: they believe that it will have a positive effect on profits. After the announcement of the decision on cuts, the company's shares grew by nearly 2%.

Twitter doesn't pay the promised compensation for layoffs

Although Twitter's new owner Elon Musk said recently that there will be no more layoffs, the company's layoffs continue. Moreover, as former and current employees noted, the company does not pay the promised compensation upon dismissal.

According to media reports, Twitter has been laying off employees and management in its Dublin and Singapore offices since early January. Notices on the termination of cooperation were received by many moderators and employees of the teams that check publications for compliance with the rules and policies on misinformation in the social network, the global appeals of users and organizations, as well as those who work with the publications of the state media.

Some former Twitter employees told the media that they had not received payments as of early January, even though more than two months had passed since they were fired. Others received less than they were promised. Thus, one of the employees said that he received only 1/3 of what the company owed him under the contract.

Interestingly, according to the employees, the notifications about the compensation owed were intentionally made in such a format that they ended up in the spam folders and the former employees could delete them accidentally or just not notice them.

Vimeo plans to lay off 11% of employees

Video service Vimeo is planning to cut almost 11% of its staff. Management hopes that this will help improve the financial situation amid economic problems and inflation.

The cuts were announced in a letter to employees by Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud. She said in the letter, the cuts will make the company more focused and successful, operating with the necessary discipline in an uncertain economic environment.

Employees will be warned of the impending layoffs by personal letters, after which they will be invited for a face-to-face interview with their immediate supervisor and a human resources officer.

According to Business Insider, this is not the first layoff at this company: in July 2022, Vimeo laid off 6% of its employees.

McDonald's

Not only technology companies are planning layoffs this year, but also many others, and restaurant chain McDonald's is one of them. The company plans to cut staff this year in order to optimize costs and free up resources for investment in further business growth. CEO Chris Kempczynski announced the cuts in a letter to employees.

McDonald's currently employs about 200,000 people, with three-quarters of those employees outside the United States, according to the WSJ.