Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs at its health care units, Amazon Pharmacy and the primary care company One Medical, the tech giant confirmed Tuesday.
In a statement and memo to employees shared with GeekWire, Amazon Health Services Senior Vice President Neil Lindsay said Amazon is seeing “strong momentum and positive customer feedback” across its health care offerings, but a “few hundred” roles would be cut.
“As we continue our mission to make health care simpler for customers, we’re realigning some resources to help accelerate our efforts to deliver the best experience for our patients, customers, and members,” Lindsay said. “Unfortunately, these adjustments will result in the elimination of a few hundred roles within Amazon Pharmacy and One Medical.”
Business Insider first reported the news.
Amazon announced its $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical in July 2022 and closed the deal last February.
The company launched the Amazon Pharmacy service in November 2020, following its $753 million acquisition of prescription-by-mail company PillPack in 2018.
Amazon cut a total of 27,000 jobs companywide amid broader tech layoffs last year. The company’s gaming and music units have made their own separate cuts since then, and cuts further impacted the entertainment division early this year with layoffs at Twitch, Prime Video and MGM Studios.
Amazon ended the fourth quarter with 1,525,000 employees, up by 25,000 people from the third quarter but down 1% from a year ago, and still well below its peak of more than 1.6 million employees two years ago
“We are investing, and we are adding in some areas,” said Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s chief financial officer, on a conference call with reporters following the company’s quarterly results last week. “But there’s a general feeling in most teams that we’re looking to hold the line on headcount, perhaps go down as we can drive efficiencies.”
Read Lindsay’s memo to employees:
Hi everyone,
The past year has been incredibly exciting for all of our health care businesses, and we’re seeing tremendous growth for Amazon Pharmacy, One Medical, and Amazon Clinic. We reinvented the Amazon Pharmacy experience throughout 2023 to make it more affordable and convenient for customers to get the prescription medications they need through RxPass, automatic coupons, partnerships, and more. We expanded Amazon Clinic nationwide, and since launch, the marketplace has seen a 96% customer satisfaction rating. And, One Medical continues to grow its membership, benefiting from increased awareness from Amazon, such as the new Prime member benefit, while also focusing on ways to continually improve the care experience for members across One Medical and One Medical Seniors. We remain energized to learn from One Medical’s DNA and scale mechanisms like CI-CARE, alongside Amazon’s Leadership Principles.
As we continue to make it easier for people to get and stay healthy, we have identified areas where we can reposition resources so we can invest in invention and experiences that have a direct impact on our customers and members of all ages. Unfortunately, these changes will result in the elimination of a few hundred roles across One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy.
We are aware these role eliminations are difficult for those impacted, as well as those who have worked alongside them. We will support those who are affected with financial support, benefit continuation, and career assistance to aid in their transition, as well as the opportunity to apply for new roles in the organization.
We typically wait to communicate about these outcomes until we can speak with the people who are directly impacted. However, because one of our teammates leaked this information externally, I wanted you to hear the details directly from me. This is not ideal, and I am sorry if you heard about this externally first. We will communicate with impacted employees tomorrow.
Please know that my leadership team and I will provide guidance on the path forward following these changes. I look forward to working with you to continue helping our customers and members alike get and stay healthy.
Neil
