Amazon has started sending layoff emails to employees as part of its latest round of job cuts. The current round of layoffs is affecting about 16,000 employees globally, with corporate roles bearing the brunt of the cuts. As soon as employees received the notice, some started sharing their experiences online. One such account is from an employee who said she was fired from her job just days before her approved maternity leave was to begin.

The ex-Amazon employee shared her experience anonymously on Blind, a social media site where verified employees can talk anonymously, revealing that her maternity leave was fully approved, documented, and scheduled to start next week.

According to her post, a case manager had already been hired and all the paperwork was completed, yet she received the standard layoff email informing her that her role was being eliminated just days before she was due to leave. “I was terminated today. My MAT leave was scheduled to start next week. Fully approved. Assigned to case manager, dates set, everything documented,” he wrote. “Still got the same cold dismissive email like it doesn’t matter. I’m due to deliver in two weeks. I’m tired, big, stressed, emotional, and now this. I feel so helpless.”

The affected employee also notes that she is not the only one affected after taking medical leave. “There are posts and comments on Amazon channels in different states and teams about people being affected who go on FMLA, maternity, paternity and medical leave,” he said.

It’s important to note that Amazon has not publicly commented on this or specified why specific employees have been laid off. It has only issued a general statement. Whether maternity leave, or other leaves, were a factor in the layoffs is currently only speculation on the part of the affected employee.

Amazon has confirmed cuts of 16,000 jobs

Earlier on January 28, Amazon had confirmed that it was cutting about 16,000 jobs globally, its second major round of layoffs in just three months. The company has already reduced its workforce by about 14,000 jobs over the past few months, bringing the total number of recent job cuts to about 30,000.

Amazon announced the cuts via a blog post from its Chief People Officer Beth Galetti. According to the company, the layoffs are part of a broader organizational reset aimed at reducing management layers, increasing ownership and cutting internal bureaucracy, noting that while many teams completed restructuring last year, others finalized changes recently.

Amazon is sending layoff emails

Concurrent with the public announcement, Amazon began sending final emails to affected employees. In one such email reviewed by India Today Tech, employees have been informed that their roles have been terminated following an internal review and their employment will be terminated after a short notification period. The email also said affected employees are no longer required to work and access to the office premises has been restricted.

The email reads, “We have some important, but difficult news to share with you. After a thorough review of our organization, we have made the difficult business decision to eliminate certain roles at Amazon. Unfortunately, your role is being eliminated as part of these changes.”