Amazon to Freeze Hiring for Corporate Positions

New corporate hires will have to wait at Amazon, as the company announced a freeze as of Wednesday (Nov. 2).

Amazon is moving to pause new hiring amid a worsening economic outlook and after its hiring practices had been less restricted in years past, it said in a memo to employees.

“We anticipate keeping this pause in place for the next few months and will continue to monitor what we’re seeing in the economy and the business to adjust as we think makes sense,” said Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon, in the memo.

Amazon still intends “to hire a meaningful number of people in 2023,” according to the memo.

The company is still trying to stay ahead of its competition in eCommerce, as a PYMNTS report, “The Battle for Consumer Retail Spend: Amazon Versus Walmart Q2 2022: The Discretionary Spend Play” indicated in October.

According to the report, Amazon leads Walmart in a few major markets, holding 10% share of furniture and home furnishings sales, and 2% share of clothing and apparel sales, exceeding Walmart’s share in both categories.

Amazon also noted in the memo that it intends to expand its reach in its newer alternative business ventures beyond eCommerce, such as Prime Video, Alexa, Grocery, Kuiper, Zoox and Healthcare.

The news comes the same day that Amazon announced its fashion brand is teaming up with social media platform Snapchat to introduce digital eCommerce clothing try-on technology. Starting with eyewear, the new pairing of Snap’s Augmented Reality (AR) Lens filter with Amazon’s inventory of products is a milestone in the evolution of digital social commerce.

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