Amazon employee gets fired after 12 years of service, says he is leaving a place he called home

Be it a new employee who just started working or a senior with several years of experience, nobody has been safe from the layoffs wave that took over the tech world earlier this year. Major IT giants like Amazon, Meta, Twitter, Google and Microsoft, amongst others, collectively fired thousands of employees across the globe, impacting many lives. Since 2022, we have seen many techies share their stories on LinkedIn, about how the layoffs impacted their lives and how they are trying to cope with it. While some employees wrote how they lost their jobs during maternity leave, others shared that they found out that they no longer are employed while on vacation.

An Amazon employee, who was also part of layoffs carried out at the company, shared that he lost his job just days before completing 12 years.

Amazon employee loses job

Talking about how this is his final day at Amazon, the ex-employee wrote, "Today, 30 September, is my final day with Amazon. I am impacted by #amazonlayoffs, and I will leave the company just 17 days shy of my 12th anniversary. I hardly use LinkedIn, and I debated whether to say anything at all. My feelings on being laid off have been a complicated mix of anger, grief, and optimism, but I didn't see any value in just putting leadership on blast (no matter how cathartic it might have been). Fortunately, I've had plenty of time to process my thoughts, and I think it's worth writing them down here."

He then wrote that he was proud of what he accomplished during his time at the company and was sad to be leaving his colleagues. The ex-Amazonian also expressed that he was nervous about what awaits in future.

"The 4 Hour Work Week, for all its (many) flaws, correctly points out that people are more likely to stay in unfulfilling but stable situations than to accept the uncertainty that come with change. I'm now being forced to change, which is at once frightening and exhilarating," he wrote.

Talking about how his last day at the company is "bittersweet," he added, "I am leaving a place I called home for more than a decade, but I am ready to leave, and I feel pretty good about what comes next. I also stole a bunch of bananas from the office when I dropped off my laptop, and I feel pretty good about that, too."

About Amazon layoffs

Last year, Amazon had fired 18,000 employees from various departments. In January this year, news surfaced that in order to cut costs, Amazon is also selling some of its empty office spaces.

Then, the company announced yet another round of large-scale layoffs in March. Amazon said that it has decided to fire 9,000 people globally and that employees from AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch will be affected.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, in the blog post announcing the second round of layoffs, had called it a 'difficult decision'. He wrote,"As we've just concluded the second phase of our operating plan ("OP2") this past week, I'm writing to share that we intend to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks-mostly in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch. This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term."