Amazon cuts software development job openings by 99%, amid economic conditions

Amazon has massively cut software development job openings down to just 299 compared to the 32,692 positions it had open last May. The development was noticed by Slashdot user theodp who used Internet Archive to look back at job openings last May compared to now. If you’ve been following the news about Amazon’s job cuts, it’s not surprising to see that the company is looking to run a tight ship given economic conditions.

Earlier this month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy published a blog post explaining that from January 18, the company would be communicating with employees it had made redundant. Those cuts mainly affected Amazon Stores and People Experience and Technology (PXT) Solutions teams but Amazon likely doesn’t want to go on a hiring binge elsewhere in the company right now either.

Thanks to the inflation we’ve around the world, central banks have raised interest rates to crush consumer demand, and by extension, inflation. With less demand, companies cannot justify their unprofitable activities and have to cut back on their workforce. Those who are newly redundant have less disposable income, pushing down consumer demand. With this focus on profitability, companies prefer to make their remaining workforce more productive, rather than taking on new hires.

While Amazon may have scaled back its employment opportunities, workers who have been made redundant in recent months have seemingly managed to find new jobs within months of being laid off. Around 79% of recently sacked tech employees managed to find new jobs in just a couple of months, though, they didn’t all re-enter the tech sector.

Source: theodp