Amazon starting to tighten its belt; scrapping plans for 42 new buildings
Amazon is closing 2 facilities with a total of 300 employees and reportedly scrapping plans for 42 new buildings
Amazon is shutting two facilities in Baltimore and offering jobs elsewhere to over 300 workers.
Amazon is having to curtail growth of its vast delivery network.
The e-commerce giant has scrapped plans for 42 new US facilities, a consulting firm told Bloomberg.
Amazon is starting to tighten its belt.
The e-commerce giant announced Wednesday it was shutting down two delivery stations in Baltimore which employ a total of over 300 people, as first reported by local news outlet WMAR-2.
An Amazon spokesperson told WMAR-2 the company will offer staff at the stations the chance to transfer to other delivery stations in the area. The spokesperson did not specify how many other stations there were, but said there were "several."
The move appears to be the latest step in Amazon dialling back expansion of its vast delivery network.
MWPVL International Inc, a consulting firm that tracks Amazon's real-estate purchases, told Bloomberg Amazon has scrapped plans to open 42 facilities in the US and delayed plans to open a further 21.
The company already pressed pause on opening a 700,000-square-foot facility in Nebraska, which is nearly fully constructed, delaying its opening until 2024.
Amazon's real estate empire exploded during the pandemic due to a surge in demand which has now left the company with a surplus of space, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky told reporters in April.
Olsavsky said Amazon doubled the size of its operations and workforce from mid-2021 to April 2022.
Amazon also scaled back hiring in its retail division this year. Insider previously reported that the division has been hard-hit by surging inflation.
Amazon is not reining in every part of its business however. Insider's Eugene Kim reported Friday the company has been inviting sellers to a new trial program designed to store products over longer periods of time. Whereas Amazon has historically focused on quick turnaround stock, this new program signals it is looking at capturing a larger share of the warehouse market.