A clip shared by New York-based Amazon engineer, Abir Bhattacharjee, detailing how he came to know about the company's massive layoffs has gone viral. In the clip on social media, Abir is seen speaking with another person, casually sharing the moment he realised what was coming.
“I had lunch at 4 p.m. I knew this was layoff week. Everyone knew,” he said in the Instagram video shared on Monday evening. Abir explained that he was deploying a big update to production, which was related to the customer-facing stage.
After a quick lunch, he returned to his desk when his coworker asked him if he had “seen it”.
“I thought production had broken,” Abir said. But his coworker looked worried for another reason. That's when Abir learned that Amazon was planning to lay off 30,000 employees.
“That's how I knew it was happening tomorrow,” the tech influencer, who has nearly 40,000 followers on Instagram, said. His video has garnered more than 50,000 likes so far.
Following this, the other person in the video mentions the company is also planning to lay off 6,00,000 factory workers in 2028. He then suggests Abir could join the factory floor then.
View this post on InstagramTo this, Abir retorts in a light-hearted vein: “I'm too polished now. I like sitting at my pretty desk. I can't live a hard life.”
He then follows up with a question, wondering what his next move would be if he got laid off. The other person then jokingly says: “Startup”.
Concluding the video, Abir speaks on a more serious note that he will certainly need a plan B the next morning, referring to the potential layoffs in the next few hours.
It is to be noted that NDTV Profit has not independently verified Abir's employment with Amazon.
On Tuesday, Amazon announced job cuts for 14,000 workers, marking the first phase of its bold plan to eliminate 30,000 roles. The layoffs mark the latest move by the tech giant to slash costs and preserve cash amid a slowing economy. Sources said the reductions, which may roll out over several weeks, will impact roughly 10% of Amazon's corporate workforce.
Many employees reported receiving a text message from the company on Tuesday morning, which confirmed they had been laid off. The incident has sparked a broader debate about modern employment and the increasing impact of artificial intelligence on the job market.
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