Indian government to probe mass resignations at Amazon amid reports of layoffs: Report

India’s labour ministry is expected to set up an investigation into the alleged mass resignations taking place in Amazon India, said a report by the Hindustan Times. This comes after reports emerged, earlier this month, that the retail giant might lay off at least 10,000 employees from its workforce across the world.

Citing people with knowledge on the matter, HT reported that the probe will examine “whether the exits were voluntary and if the terms of services, which includes severance and notice period, were adhered to.” The retail giant is set to lay off at least 10,000 employees by next year, said multiple media reports. Subsequently, the ministry sent a notice to Amazon India last week after it received complaints of mass layoffs which are in violation of India’s labour laws.

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The complaints were made by the Nascent Information Technology Employees’ Senate (NITES), a group of over 18,000 members of IT professionals in India, to the Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Bhupender Yadav. However, officials at Amazon India said that the employees have not been fired but the people have opted for the company’s “voluntary separation programme”.

The report citing the ministry official, requesting anonymity also said, “In its response, the company said that they had expected to make more money through their business, but owing to financial expedience, they floated a voluntary exit programme. They said there were no forced layoffs.”

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On the other hand, the president of NITES, Harpreet Singh Saluja, said that Amazon India in an internal memo allegedly told employees, those who did not resign voluntarily will be fired without any benefits under the “workforce optimisation programme”. Therefore, the ministry will also speak to the employees who opted for the “voluntary separation programme”, in order to verify the company’s claims, said the report by HT.

When questioned about the government intervention in the workings of a private company, the official said that their ministry’s aim is to ensure labour laws in the country are not violated. “We will ensure that the aggrieved workers are heard, and their rights are protected. Otherwise, we will act as per the law,” said the report.

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Meanwhile, Amazon India is reportedly in the midst of shutting down some of its operations in the country including food delivery in Bengaluru by the end of this year. Additionally, they are also closing their online learning platform for high school students, Amazon Academy, the company said last week.

First reported by the New York Times on November 15, Amazon is planning to lay off at least 10,000 employees in their corporate and technology departments, making it the biggest layoff in company history. According to reports, the layoffs have begun and are expected to continue till next year.

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