Govt to probe against mass resignations at Amazon


Govt to probe against mass resignations at Amazon

According to sources, the labour ministry will launch an investigation to determine whether the recent wave of resignations at Amazon India represented layoffs that broke terms of employment or labour regulations.

Following a complaint of unlawful mass layoffs submitted to labour minister Bhupender Yadav by the Nascent Information Technology Employees' Senate (NITES), a group of over 18,000 IT workers, the government last week delivered a notice to Amazon India.

In its reply, Amazon India management had said no employee had been fired and some staff had resigned after accepting the e-commerce firm’s “voluntary separation programme”.

The company in its internal communication to employeeshad stated that those who do not opt for the voluntary separation programme will be retrenched without any benefits under a “workforce optimisation programme”, according to Harpreet Singh Saluja, president of NITES, which has alleged violation of labour laws.

Amazon has planned to lay off approximately 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs globally, starting last week, in what would be the largest job cuts in the company’s history, according to reports. The resignations at Amazon India are being seen as a part of the e-commerce giant’s global retrenchments.

Amazon India has said it planned to shutdown its food delivery service in Bengaluru by the end of 2022, and also wind up its ed-tech ventures in the country. On Thursday, the company said it would shutter Amazon Academy, an online learning platform in India for high school students.

“In its response (to the labour ministry), 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. However, we will be examining whether the exits were voluntary and if the terms of services, which includes severance and notice period, were adhered to,” a ministry official said, requesting anonymity.

The ministry will also reach out to the employees who opted for the voluntary exit scheme to verify the claims made by the company.

On whether the government could intervene in the working of a private entity, the official said the ministry has the mandate to ensure that labour laws were not violated. “We will ensure that the aggrieved workers are heard, and their rights are protected. Otherwise, we will act as per the law,” the official said.