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Amazon to Cut 14,000 Corporate Jobs as It Reshapes Workforce for the AI Era

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Amazon is preparing for a sweeping transformation driven by its adoption of artificial intelligence, and it’s starting with a major round of layoffs. The tech giant said it plans to eliminate 14,000 corporate roles this year as part of a broader effort to make the company leaner and more adaptable to rapid technological change.

In a memo to employees, Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience, said the company would continue investing in “key strategic areas” while identifying “additional places we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realize efficiency gains.”

“Some may ask why we’re reducing roles when the company is performing well. Across our businesses, we’re delivering great customer experiences every day, innovating at a rapid rate, and producing strong business results.”

Galetti emphasized that Amazon’s restructuring is designed to help realize CEO Andy Jassy’s long-held goal of operating “like the world’s biggest startup.” The company, she said, needs to stay nimble in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.

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“What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before. We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.”

Amazon, which employs more than 350,000 corporate staff globally, will see about 4% of its workforce impacted by the move. The layoffs are expected to begin on Tuesday, with most affected employees given 90 days to find new positions within the company before severance packages take effect. Reuters, which first broke the news, reported the final number could reach as high as 30,000 jobs.

Jassy was candid about AI’s role in reshaping the company’s operations in a June blog post.

“As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.”

He added that AI’s reach will extend far beyond Amazon. “Many of these agents have yet to be built, but make no mistake, they’re coming, and coming fast,” he said, predicting that billions of AI agents will eventually operate across industries and disciplines.

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The company’s latest round of reductions follows a difficult stretch in 2023, when Amazon slashed 27,000 positions across its human resources, retail, and AWS divisions amid what they deemed a “worsening global economy.”

Industry analysts view the latest cuts as part of Amazon’s ongoing effort to balance growth with cost efficiency. “Markets across the world are tightening at the same time as underlying costs are rising,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, in a note to investors.

“Amazon is not immune to this, and it needs to act if it wants to continue with a good bottom-line performance. In some ways, this is a tipping point away from human capital to technological infrastructure.”

The layoffs come amid mounting unease about AI’s long-term impact on employment, particularly for younger tech professionals. While automation promises efficiency gains, researchers have warned that fears of mass job replacement may be overstated for now.

Still, Amazon’s restructuring underscores a reality facing much of the tech world, that the push toward an AI-first future may mean fewer humans in traditional corporate roles.

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Mass Internet Disruption as Amazon Web Services Suffers Multi-Hour Outage

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For a few tense hours early Monday morning, much of the internet stumbled. From payment apps to streaming platforms to government websites, an outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) temporarily silenced corners of the digital world, offering another reminder of how deeply our online lives depend on a handful of tech giants.

The disruption began around 3 a.m. Eastern Time, hitting a wide range of popular services, including Venmo, Hulu, Snapchat, the chat app Signal, and parts of the British government’s online infrastructure. Even Amazon’s own website wasn’t immune. By 5:27 a.m., the company said most affected systems were back online, though it was still “working through a backlog of queued requests.”

While the disruption lasted just over two hours, its reach was enormous. Banks, gaming platforms, and entertainment services all reported interruptions. Users struggled to access various services, including WhatsApp, Coinbase, The New York Times’ puzzle games, Ring doorbells, and McDonald’s ordering systems. American Airlines and Delta Airlines were also affected.

“United [Airlines] implemented back-up systems to end the technology disruption and our teams are working to get our customers on their way,” the company said in a statement.

Amazon initially attributed the failure to an “operational issue” centered in its Northern Virginia region, known internally as “us-east-1,” one of the company’s largest data centers.

There was no immediate indication that the outage was caused by a cyberattack. But the precise cause remained unclear as the company worked to restore full functionality.

Experts said the incident highlights how much of the internet’s infrastructure rests on the shoulders of just a few major cloud providers—Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, among them. When one stumbles, millions of users and entire industries can be caught in the digital crossfire.

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“So much of the world now relies on these three or four big (cloud) compute companies who provide the underlying infrastructure that when there’s an issue like this, it can be really impactful across a broad range, a broad spectrum” of online services, Patrick Burgess, a cybersecurity expert at U.K.-based BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, told The Associated Press.

Harry Halpin, chief executive of NymVPN, a virtual private network company, told The New York Times that this was the consequence of an unstable and monopolized system.

“If your entire nation’s infrastructure relies on a few providers, all in the United States, and anything can go down at any moment, either for malicious reasons or just technical errors, that’s an exceedingly dangerous situation.”

Dr. Halpin, who previously worked as a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he awoke to messages from Ukrainian soldiers, who use his company’s VPN services, asking why communications had failed. “Everyone takes it for normal,” he said. “But it’s not normal.”

He speculated that a technical fault in one of Amazon’s main data centers may have been to blame, though he added that cloud platforms’ operations are inherently opaque, making it impossible to confirm without Amazon’s disclosure.

The outage reignited debate about the concentration of power within the cloud computing industry. Corinne Cath-Speth, head of digital for Article 19, a free speech advocacy group, warned that the failure underscored the risks of over-centralization.

“When a single provider goes dark, critical services go offline with it. The infrastructure underpinning democratic discourse, independent journalism and secure communications cannot be dependent on a handful of companies.”

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Amro Al-Said Ahmad, a computer science lecturer at Keele University in England, echoed the concern, noting that “for everyday operations, cloud computing works.” But he added that even one small error, like a faulty update, can take down the entire system.

Last year, a daylong global outage caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike crippled systems worldwide, another sign of the web’s fragility when critical infrastructure falters.

For many organizations, outsourcing data storage and computing to cloud providers like Amazon offers flexibility, cost savings, and scalability. AWS powers thousands of companies across industries, providing the backbone for video streaming, data analysis, and online transactions. In the first half of this year, the division accounted for nearly 20 percent of Amazon’s total sales but generated about 60 percent of its operating profit.

Still, despite the scope of the disruption, investors barely flinched. Amazon’s stock price held steady in premarket trading, perhaps a sign that, in the modern internet economy, occasional outages are simply accepted as the price of convenience.

Some political leaders are growing less comfortable with that trade-off. Alexandra Geese, a member of the European Parliament from Germany, called the incident “a stark reminder that Europe’s digital sovereignty is not an abstract concept, but a matter of security and resilience.”

She and others are urging European nations to host critical infrastructure on home soil under E.U. jurisdiction, reducing dependence on U.S.-based corporations.

Two decades ago, most companies operated their own data centers. But as Mehdi Daoudi, founder of the internet monitoring firm Catchpoint, noted, today, most rely on Amazon, Google, Microsoft or Chinese companies for cloud services. Rising costs have recently prompted some organizations to reconsider that model and bring their infrastructure back in-house.

Whether Monday’s outage will accelerate that trend remains to be seen. For now, it stands as another wake-up call in a string of digital disruptions, showcasing the precarious position of many of our information systems.

“The good news is that this kind of issue is usually relatively fast (to resolve),” and there’s no indication that it was caused by a cyber incident like a cyberattack, Burgess told The Associated Press.

“This looks like a good old-fashioned technology issue, something’s gone wrong, and it will be fixed by Amazon,” he said.

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Amazon Tests Humanoid Robots for Delivery as Part of Expanding Automation Strategy

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Amazon is reportedly taking its automation ambitions to the next level, developing humanoid robots designed to assist with and potentially replace human delivery workers.

According to tech outlet The Information, the $2 trillion tech giant is constructing a dedicated “humanoid park” in the U.S., where robots will be tested in indoor environments before being deployed in the field.

The space, described as roughly the size of a coffee shop, is housed within an Amazon office in San Francisco and serves as an obstacle course to gauge how well these machines can navigate real-world delivery scenarios.

The goal? To create robots that can ride inside Amazon’s Rivian delivery vans and “spring out” to make deliveries. While human drivers may still be present, these robots could allow for multi-drop efficiency — for instance, enabling the robot to handle one address while the driver tackles another. It’s part of Amazon’s broader vision for streamlining the notoriously labor-intensive “last mile” of delivery.

Although Amazon is spearheading the development of the software that will power the robots’ artificial intelligence, it is reportedly relying on external companies to build the physical hardware.

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One such company is Agility Robotics, whose “Digit” robot has already been tested in Amazon warehouses. Agility’s CEO Peggy Johnson said in an earlier interview with The Guardian that Digit has enabled workers to offload tasks and transition into other roles.

“Employees who were previously doing this physical work appreciate the fact that they can hand that off to Digit. Then it allows them to do a number of other things, one of which is to be a robot manager.”

Sarah Franklin, the CEO of Lattice, a technology company based in the United States that offers a platform for human resources departments, stated that the workforce landscape is set to undergo significant transformation due to the influence of artificial intelligence.

Entry-level positions serve as the foundation of a workforce, with opportunities becoming increasingly selective as individuals progress into management and executive roles.

“AI can make this more of a diamond shape, where the entry levels are harder to get. The pace of innovation is outpacing education. That is a dangerous future if we don’t rapidly invest in ensuring that everyone is proficient with AI, especially entry-level workers.”

Amazon’s humanoid testing zone reportedly includes one of its more than 20,000 Rivian electric vans currently in operation across the U.S. Once the robots pass initial tests in the controlled indoor course, Amazon plans to send them on supervised “field trips” to deliver packages in real residential environments.

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The company’s ambitions in autonomous delivery aren’t limited to humanoids. Amazon has also invested heavily in self-driving technology via its Zoox subsidiary and has received clearance to test drone deliveries beyond the line of sight of human operators in the UK, a significant step toward drone-based logistics.

Experts say the vision is ambitious but not entirely out of reach. Professor Subramanian Ramamoorthy, chair of robot learning and autonomy at the University of Edinburgh, said Amazon’s interest in robotic last-mile delivery aligns with its deep investment in automation. While the field of humanoid robotics has made significant strides in recent years, Ramamoorthy noted that reliable outdoor performance remains a major hurdle.

Achieving consistent success outside of tightly controlled test environments, such as the so-called ‘humanoid park,’ is still a real challenge, he explained.

“If Amazon restricts the scope, which means using relatively clear driveways and standard layouts of doors and surroundings, then the task would be quite a bit simpler. As the environments become more complex and variable, and others enter the picture – such as pets and small children – the problems become harder.”

Still, with a robust internal robotics team and a growing ecosystem of AI and delivery infrastructure, Amazon seems well-positioned to be a frontrunner in the future of humanoid logistics — one where robots could soon be walking packages up to your doorstep.

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Writers And Voice Actors Respond To Audible’s New Plan To Use AI For Book Narrations 

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Audible recently announced that they will be using artificial intelligence (AI) to narrate audiobooks and translate works as well. Many writers, voice actors, and translators have responded to this new phase of audiobook listening, and aren’t happy with the decision to have technology take away jobs from hardworking individuals.

Audible, owned by Amazon, said that it will be using its AI production technology with certain publishers through “select partnerships,” according to reports. 

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“We are bringing new audiobooks to life through our own fully integrated, end-to-end AI production technology,” Audible published on their website.

Audible will be providing managed production where publishers have the choice to produce their own audiobooks with their AI technology.

Publishers can choose from over 100 AI-generated voices in English, Spanish, French, and Italian to narrate their books. The first audiobooks using this technology through Audible will likely be available later in the year. 

“Audible believes that AI represents a momentous opportunity to expand the availability of audiobooks with the vision of offering customers every book in every language, alongside our continued investments in premium original content,” said Bob Carrigan, the chief executive of Audible.

“We’ll be able to bring more stories to life – helping creators reach new audiences while ensuring listeners worldwide can access extraordinary books that might otherwise never reach their ears.”

Writers, translators, and voice actors have responded to this advancement with disappointment, stating that using AI to voice a book takes away the sincerity and beauty of storytelling. 

“This shortsighted scheme reduces what we love about storytelling to the simple delivery of code. In an age of declining literacy, I can’t think of anything more likely to put people off listening to audiobooks altogether,” said Chocolat author Joanne Harris. 

“[Human narrators] actively sell audio content by being good at their jobs,” said Kristen Atherton, who narrated over 400 audiobooks on Audible. 

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“The art – and it is an art – of a good audiobook is the crack in the voice at a moment of unexpected emotion, the wryness of good comedy timing, or the disbelief a listener feels when one person can convincingly be a whole cast of characters,” she said. 

“No matter how ‘human’ an AI voice sounds, it’s those little intricacies that turn a good book into an excellent one. AI can’t replicate that.”

Stephen Briggs, who voices audiobooks said: “The use of AI to replace human creativity is in itself a dangerous path. 

Actor and audiobook narrator Deepti Gupta said: “We need to create more, not less, space for Bipoc narrators, and these AI tools are a new way to marginalize and colonize the voices that need to be heard.”

“Time after time, generative AI has been shown to produce lowest-common-denominator results, while human translators, while fallible, use their personalities and the serendipity of the human mind to produce unique solutions to linguistic and literary problems, thereby creating art,” Nichola Smalley, who translates Swedish and Norwegian literature into English, said.

Literary translator Frank Wynne said: “No one pretends to use AI for translation, audiobooks, or even writing books because they are better; the only excuse is that they are cheaper. Which is only true if you ignore the vast processing power even the simplest AI request requires.”

“In the search for a cheap simulacra to an actual human, we are prepared to burn down the planet and call it progress,” he stated.

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Forever 21 Files for Bankruptcy Again as Shein, Temu, and Amazon Dominate Fast Fashion

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Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in six years on Sunday, announcing plans to shutter its U.S. operations amid declining foot traffic in shopping malls and increasing competition from fast-fashion e-commerce giants such as Amazon, Temu, and Shein.

The retail chain’s U.S. operating arm has started liquidation sales across more than 350 locations and plans to cease operations entirely unless a suitable buyer emerges, according to recent court filings.

Forever 21 has actively searched for buyers over several months, reaching out to over 200 potential parties, with approximately 30 expressing serious interest by signing confidentiality agreements. However, none of these discussions yielded a viable agreement, leaving the retailer poised for liquidation.

In a statement, the company’s co-chief restructuring officer, Stephen Coulombe, attributed Forever 21’s latest financial struggles to heightened competition driven by online retailers Shein and Temu. Both companies exploit the “de minimis exemption,” a trade loophole allowing goods priced under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free, significantly impacting domestic retailers like Forever 21, which must bear import duties.

“Certain non-U.S. online retailers that compete with the debtors, such as Temu and Shein, have taken advantage of this exemption and, therefore, have been able to pass significant savings onto consumers. Consequently, retailers that must pay duties and tariffs to purchase product for their stores and warehouses in the United States, such as the company, have been undercut.”

Coulombe added, “Despite widespread calls from U.S. companies and industry groups for the U.S. government to create a level playing field for U.S. retailers by closing the exemption, U.S. laws and policies have not solved the problem.”

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Past attempts to counteract Shein’s dominance included a partnership initiated by Sparc Group, Forever 21’s operating company owner, in 2023. As part of the joint venture, Shein acquired about a third of Forever 21′s Sparc Group. Sparc also took a minority stake in Shein. The partnership allowed Shein to sell Forever 21 products on its site. It also allowed customers to return Shein-bought items in several hundred physical Forever 21 locations across the United States. However, the effort was insufficient to reverse losses or influence trade policy reform.

“The ability for non-U.S. retailers to sell their products at drastically lower prices to U.S. consumers has significantly impacted the Company’s ability to retain its traditional core customer base.”

While Forever 21’s U.S. operations face liquidation, the brand, owned by Authentic Brands Group, is expected to survive internationally. According to a recent CNBC report, the brand name and other intellectual property controlled are not for sale, and its international stores and website are anticipated to continue running.

Jarrod Weber, global lifestyle president at Authentic Brands Group, has expressed optimism about attracting new partners and operators interested in revitalizing the brand within the U.S. market, stating, “We are receiving lots of interest from strong brand operators and digital experts who share our vision and are ready to take the brand to the next level.”

“Our U.S. licensee’s decision to restructure its operations does not impact Forever 21′s intellectual property or its international business. It presents an opportunity to accelerate the modernization of the brand’s distribution model, setting it up to compete and lead in fast fashion for decades to come. We’re building a direct creation-to-shelf model that moves faster.”

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After its initial bankruptcy filing in 2019, Forever 21 returned to profitability, reporting revenues of $2 billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $165 million in fiscal 2021, under new ownership by Authentic Brands Group and major landlords Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners.

Yet the company’s financial performance steadily deteriorated amidst rising inflation, supply chain issues, and shifting consumer preferences, accumulating over $400 million in losses in the past three fiscal years alone. Projected losses for fiscal 2025 stand at an additional $180 million.

Forever 21’s struggles also prompted drastic cost-cutting measures, including requests for rent reductions from landlords of up to 50%. Although these efforts secured around $50 million in savings, the amount was insufficient to offset mounting losses. Currently, the company carries debts totaling $1.58 billion, along with over $100 million owed to clothing suppliers, primarily in China and Korea.

The company, which was founded in 1984, was once a dominant force in fast fashion, employing over 43,000 people and generating annual revenues exceeding $4 billion at its peak. Its ongoing challenges highlight the rapidly changing dynamics within the retail and fashion industries.

Part of the problem, according to GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders, is that Forever 21 stores are too large for their present needs and are located in malls where there are not enough shoppers.

“Forever 21 was always a retailer living on borrowed time. Over recent years, it has been hit with dual headwinds from a weak apparel market and stiff competition from cheap Chinese marketplaces. Both things have eroded its standing and depleted its market share.”

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Amazon Invests up to $4 Billion in OpenAI Rival Anthropic in Exchange for Minority Stake

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On Monday, Amazon announced it will invest up to $4 billion into the artificial intelligence company Anthropic. In exchange, Amazon will gain partial ownership, and Anthropic will use the company’s cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), more widely.

The growing relationship between the two firms is an example of how some large tech companies with extensive cloud computing resources are using those assets to strengthen their position in the artificial intelligence industry.

According to a statement released by Amazon, Anthropic will use AWS as its primary cloud provider, using the cloud platform to do most of its AI model development and research into AI safety. Anthropic will also have access to Amazon’s suite of in-house AI chips.

“AWS will become Anthropic’s primary cloud provider for mission-critical workloads, including safety research and future foundation model development. Anthropic plans to run the majority of its workloads on AWS, further providing Anthropic with the advanced technology of the world’s leading cloud provider.”

In addition, Anthropic has committed to making its AI models available to AWS users long-term, providing them with early access to features, including the ability to customize Anthropic models for their own purposes.

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“With today’s announcement, customers will have early access to features for customizing Anthropic models, using their own proprietary data to create their own private models, and will be able to utilize fine-tuning capabilities via a self-service feature.”

Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers already have access to Anthropic’s AI models through Amazon Bedrock, the tech giant’s storefront for AI goods. Bedrock not only supports Amazon’s own models but also those from third-party developers such as  Stability AI and AI21 Labs.

In a press release, the co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, said that his company is “excited to use AWS’s Trainium chips to develop future foundation models.”

“Since announcing our support of Amazon Bedrock in April, Claude has seen significant organic adoption from AWS customers. By significantly expanding our partnership, we can unlock new possibilities for organizations of all sizes as they deploy Anthropic’s safe, state-of-the-art AI systems together with AWS’s leading cloud technology.”

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Anthropic stated that Amazon’s minority stake would not alter the company’s corporate governance structure or its dedication to the ethical advancement of artificial intelligence.

“Our corporate governance structure remains unchanged, with the Long Term Benefit Trust continuing to guide Anthropic in accordance with our Responsible Scaling Policy. As outlined in this policy, we will conduct pre-deployment tests of new models to help us manage the risks of increasingly capable AI systems.”

Several cloud market leaders, like Microsoft and now Amazon, have made investments into artificial intelligence technology. OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT, received $1 billion from Microsoft in 2019. Microsoft recently also invested $10 billion in OpenAI and is striving to integrate OpenAI’s technology into consumer-facing Microsoft products such as Bing.

This deal is Amazon’s most recent push into the artificial intelligence space to compete with industry leaders like Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google.

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The New “A League of Their Own” Remake TV Show Doesn’t Shy Away From Strong Reputation

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The recent Amazon Prime remake “A League of Their Own” demonstrated the highs and lows of what life was like in the 1940s as being a Black transgender man.

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Amazon Acquires Roomba Maker iRobot For $1.7 Billion

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On Friday, commerce titan Amazon announced it acquired iRobot, the maker of the Roomba vacuum, for $61 per share in an all-cash transaction that will equal a total of $1.7 billion.

“We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love,” Amazon Devices Senior Vice President Dave Limp said in a statement.

“Over many years, the iRobot team has proven its ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive – from cleaning when and where customers want while avoiding common obstacles in the home, to automatically emptying the collection bin.”

iRobot CEO and chairman Colin Angle, who will hold his position upon completion of the acquisition, explained he couldn’t think of a better way for the company to continue its work than Amazon, which promotes “building thoughtful innovations that empower people to do more at home.”

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iRobot is the latest — and fourth-heftiest price-wise — in a long line of big-money Amazon acquisitions. In 2017, it purchased grocer Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, while it acquired film studio MGM for $8.5 billion last year. Last month, the company announced a $3.9 billion deal for One Medical.

The deal will still need approval from regulators and iRobot shareholders in order to go through. Following the news, iRobot’s midday trading rose 19%, while Amazon was down 1.4%.

The circular, self-guiding Roomba became a household name after its debut in the early 2000s, selling more than 40 million units. Thanks to that level of success, iRobot continued to work the market by introducing its robot mop, in addition to other products like purifiers.

The company has planned to expand to lawn work by debuting its robot lawnmower — known as the Terra — though plans for it were canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unfortunately for Roomba and its maker, sales prior to the Amazon deal had been significantly waning due to a variety of issues. Its third-quarter revenue saw a 30% drop to $255.4 million, with a net loss that jumped from 2.8 million a year ago to $43.4 million.

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Meanwhile, the company said it would be cutting 10% — 140 employees — from its workforce in order to combat rising costs.

For Amazon, Roomba adds to their impressive arsenal of smart home appliances that includes voice assistant Alexa and Ring security cameras. Perhaps the best companion for Roomba will be the $1000 Astro home monitoring robot, which Amazon brought into the fold last year.

The Roomba will likely be undergoing major changes in order to better connect with its new electronic relatives and the general smart household infrastructure Amazon has strived to build.

“It is easy to see how Amazon will integrate products like Roomba into the Alexa and Prime ecosystems, so that people have one central point of monitoring and control for many tasks and activities,” GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders told CNN.

Still, the deal isn’t free of concerns. With Amazon’s ever-evolving home device collection comes questions on data collection and privacy, especially since so many of their products are used by the daily consumer.  Additionally, the company’s hold over not just the smart home market, but several major commerce industries, has also faced frequent criticism from anti-monopoly advocates.

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Illinois Amazon Warehouse Employees Allege Racially Hostile Work Environment 

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Employees at an Amazon warehouse in Joliet, Illinois have filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the company. The employees are alleging that they’ve experienced corporate abuse, racial discrimination, and retaliation. 

According to the official complaint, which was filed Tuesday, a group of Black employees have cited confederate imagery on coworkers clothing, racist death threats written in bathroom stalls, and an overall lack of security/accountability from management to combat the issue. The employees are stating that they’ve been in a racially hostile work environment since late 2021. 

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Tamra Holder is the institutional abuse and women’s rights attorney representing the group. Holder stated that the group is now seeking monetary compensation for emotional duress caused by stressful working conditions, in addition to a change in workplace and acknowledgement of the issue at hand. 

“We don’t know what that amount comes to at this point. But I can tell you that after working in a climate where it’s racially hostile, people are experiencing extreme emotional distress,” Holder said to the media. 

“Our message to Amazon is that their behavior after our cases come to light is only increasing our damages because people are becoming more afraid rather than less.”

Holder also explained that employees have become hesitant to speak out any more regarding these claims due to fear of retaliation from management, especially since the case is receiving media attention now. 

“They are allegedly telling their employees that if they speak out, they will be fired because they signed an agreement to remain silent,” Holder said.

Holder says “former MDW2 employee Tori Davis was the first to make contact with [her] about the warehouse’s work environment.”

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Davis claimed that the death threats were dismissed by Amazon, and she was fired earlier this month after raising concern over the racial issues her and other employees have been experiencing. 

“They were trying to sweep it under the rug. The way that this situation was handled, it was strange,” Davis stated. 

A spokesperson for Amazon, Richard Rocha, issued a statement:

“Amazon works hard to protect our employees from any form of discrimination and to provide an environment where employees feel safe. Hate or racism have no place in our society and are certainly not tolerated by Amazon,” the statement read.

Holder said she “plans to do everything in my power to see the complaint through and ensure that my clients’ voices are heard.”

“I think that they had an opportunity here to make it better. And instead they’re taking a very, very different aggressive stance to make it worse. They are not too big for me and they are not too big for the people that I represent…We are not going away,” she exclaimed.

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After Decades Of Work, Amazon Begins To Prepare Launching Of Delivery Drones

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Amazon has announced the start of their “Air Prime” drone delivery service in Lockeford, California, a town that has a long history with aviation. The development is one that’s been decades in the making for Amazon, which saw over 5 billion packages delivered in 2021.

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