Amazon planning fresh layoffs that will affect thousands, alleges IT employees’ union

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The Union of Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services Employees (UNITE) has accused multinational giant Amazon of gearing up for a fresh round of illegal retrenchments. 

In a social media post published Monday, January 26, UNITE said that Amazon is conducting mass layoffs. “The announced illegal retrenchment is not a result of business crisis or economic downturn of the company,” UNITE said. They termed the layoffs an act of violence against the working class, as it would destroy their lives and livelihood.

The union further said that Amazon employs around 1,20,000 persons in India in various roles. “Despite this scale, Amazon is once again preparing a fresh round of corporate job cuts affecting thousands globally,” the statement read. Earlier, in October 2025, “14,000 employees were laid off worldwide. In India, previous rounds impacted approximately 800–1,000 employees,” UNITE said.

The layoffs expose the multinational corporations efforts to maximise profits through labour exploitation, the union alleged. It said, “Employees are being illegally retrenched despite Amazon’s continued exorbitant profitability and expansion in India. This reveals the true purpose of the illegal retrenchment: to maximize profit by intensifying exploitation, replacing labour with automation, and intensifying the work which deprives the mental and physical health of employees.”

Amazon Chief Executive Officer Andy Jessy said that the layoffs were not motivated by financial motives, nor were they Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven. Instead, he termed it an approach to reduce “the excessive population of bureaucracy”.

UNITE claimed that the layoffs will particularly affect Amazon employees in Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai, as the city is a “key centre for Amazon’s corporate and technical workforce”. The layoffs will have an “ immediate and devastating impact” on employees in Tamil Nadu, UNITE stated. 

Key demands

Concluding its statement, UNITE put forth three demands to the Union and state governments:

• Prevent the announced mass illegal retrenchment to safeguard the livelihood of Amazon employees and their families. 

• Immediately enforce Industrial Standing Orders to ensure job security and welfare in the IT & ITES sector. 

• Act proactively to ensure your duty to uphold constitutional values.