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Amazon Fresh cuts hundreds of in-store jobs

By Nithya Bose in Amazon News, posted July 27, 2023

Hundreds of employees at Amazon Fresh grocery stores were laid off this week as part of a cost-cutting effort.

The affected roles are "zone leads," responsible for managing sections of individual stores.

Amazon operates 44 Amazon Fresh stores in US cities, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Naperville, Illinois.

A former Amazon employee said those laid-off will receive pay for 60 days but won't be required to report to work after Tuesday, July 25.

The company focuses on developing a profitable model for its grocery businesses, despite its retreat from other brick-and-mortar retail businesses.

Amazon spokesperson, Jessica Martin, said the company is evaluating Amazon Fresh's performance.

She said: “As a result, we’ve decided to evolve our in-store staffing and operations model to better serve our customers and teams.

“We remain committed to our grocery business, and we’re working closely with affected employees to help them find new shifts or roles within Amazon.”

Staff affected by the cuts have the option to apply for internal jobs or to accept a severance payment.

Amazon Fresh, initially launched as a delivery-only brand in 2007, later acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in 2017 to gain insights into successful grocery chain operations.

In 2020, it ventured into opening physical Fresh stores, including locations in the UK.

Former employees said customers often found the technology confusing and frustrating, leading to challenges in attracting footfall to the stores.

The job cuts at Amazon Fresh come amid a broader trend of job reductions in the tech industry.

So far in 2023, Amazon has laid off 27,000 workers, with other tech giants like Facebook's Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet also implementing significant job cuts.

An Illinois-based "zone lead" said she found her job was being cut on Tuesday.

She and her co-workers were told not to report to their regular shifts but to attend a conference call, where a district manager informed them about the job cuts as part of a "reduction in force."

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Although they knew the store's struggles, the news left the employees feeling "distraught," the employee said

While there are job openings at an Amazon warehouse 30 miles away, the employee expressed uncertainty about applying due to the commuting cost.

As a "zone lead," her responsibilities included meticulously organizing the shelves to align with the cameras used for the Just Walk Out technology.

Other "zone leads" were tasked with stocking shelves, addressing customer inquiries, managing inventory, and training new employees, as indicated in previously posted job listings.

Amazon spokesperson Jessica Martin said the firm is evaluating Amazon Fresh’s performance.

She said: “As a result, we’ve decided to evolve our in-store staffing and operations model to better serve our customers and teams,” Martin said. “We remain committed to our grocery business, and we’re working closely with affected employees to help them find new shifts or roles within Amazon.”

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