No more layoffs! Amazon "recommends employees" to resign on their own

E-commerce giant Amazon recently announced a new round of layoffs, laying off nearly 10,000 employees in various departments around the world to cope with the impact of the economic slowdown. After the announcement, some employees of Amazon India began receiving voluntary separation program (VSP) notices, urging them to resign voluntarily instead of the company terminating their contracts.

In Amazon's experience and technology teams, Indian employees from L1 to L7 levels have received notices saying they can apply to participate in the company's voluntary separation program. Under this plan, if employees resign before November 30 this year, they will receive some compensation.

“Under the voluntary separation program, eligible employees may apply to voluntarily resign in exchange for separation compensation,” the internal document said.

"Please remember that all application forms for the Voluntary Separation Scheme must be submitted by 6:30am on November 30, 2022."

Compensation mentioned in the voluntary separation plan includes:

1. 22 weeks of basic salary; one week of basic salary is added for every 6 months of work (rounded up to the nearest 6 months), with a maximum of 20 weeks of basic salary;

2. Purchase medical insurance for 6 months according to the insurance proceeds policy or the same premium amount;

However, employees who participate in the performance improvement plan will not have the opportunity to apply for the voluntary separation program.

Indian local media have contacted Amazon to ask when the relevant compensation for employees who resign can be implemented. Amazon has not yet responded.

The internal document also shows that any employee who participates in the voluntary resignation program and leaves normally does not need to return the compensation received if he or she returns to work at Amazon in the future.

Bhagyashree Pancholy, employment law counsel at LanoGMBH, pointed out that when employees voluntarily resign from Amazon, they give up their right to legally defend against Amazon's termination of their employment .

“If an employee is fired by a company, there could be legal issues ,” she said in an interview. “ But if an employee voluntarily resigns, they give up their right to challenge the company ’s termination in court , and Amazon is saving costs this way .”

Amazon is currently urging its Indian employees to resign voluntarily, which does not bode well for the Indian Ministry of Labor. On Tuesday, Deputy Chief Labor Commissioner A Anjanappa sent a notice to Amazon asking it to appear at a hearing on the issue. Amazon's senior public policy manager Smitha Sharma has been invited to appear at a hearing in late November .

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