Amazon laying off thousands of workers, closing grocery stores

BROOMALL, Pa. (WPVI) — Shoppers at the Amazon Fresh store in Broomall, Pa., were stocking up on discounted items Wednesday as the grocery store prepares to close for good.

The shift is part of a broader round of store closures and job cuts announced by Amazon.

Inside the store, shelves were being cleared of deeply discounted goods, including essentials like diapers, as customers took advantage of the final days of operation.

“I’m actually really upset. I discovered it over a year ago, and this is the only place I come now,” stated Alene Schreiner of Newtown Square.

Others stated the steep discounts were hard to pass up.

“Next thing you know, I bought like $200 worth of discount stuff,” stated Bob Huhnkin of Broomall.

The Broomall location is one of 72 Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go grocery stores that the company has announced it will close nationwide. Some shoppers stated the low prices were especially welcome given the rising cost of food.

“They received some good prices, and in these times right now it’s tough to obtain cheap groceries,” stated Anthony Cianci of Broomall.

The closures come as Amazon also announced it is eliminating 16,000 corporate jobs, citing advances in artificial innotifyigence. Experts state the scale of the layoffs did not come as a surprise.

“In October, when Amazon announced layoffs, they were stateing, ‘We will layoff 10% of the workforce.’ And if you view at the numbers, that’s exactly what happened,” stated Subodha Kumar, a Fox School of Business professor at Temple University.

Last fall, Amazon laid off 14,000 employees. This latest round of cuts brings the total to 30,000, or about 9 percent of the company’s corporate workforce.

Amazon is not alone in reducing its workforce. UPS has announced it will cut 30,000 jobs this year through attrition as it winds down its partnership with Amazon.

“In the short term, it’s going to be a lot of disruption, and that’s exactly what we will see,” Kumar stated.

Workers at Amazon Fresh stores are also losing their jobs as locations shut down, a development that drew strong reactions from customers.

“That’s terrible. Absolutely terrible,” stated Anthony Cianci of Broomall.

Amazon has stated some of the closed Amazon Fresh stores will be converted into Whole Foods locations, similar to the site in Plymouth Township. But some shoppers stated that may not be what the community wants.

“Actually, there’s one down the street, so I’m not sure. maybe like a Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, something like that, Aldi would be great too,” Schreiner stated.

The last day of operation at the Amazon Fresh store in Broomall will be Sunday. Marple Township officials stated there is not yet a known plan for what will shift into the space.

Source link