Amazon has begun notifying affected employees of its latest round of layoffs, affected employees will receive emails confirming the termination of their services after a short notification period. The official communication outlines severance packages, unpaid non-working transition periods, benefits and continued access to internal systems, as well as job placement support, while the company moves forward with cutting 16,000 roles globally. The “final” email also informs employees that their access badges have been revoked and that security will escort them out of the office.

However, they will continue to access some internal Amazon employee channels once they leave the office. They will also remain a part of the company for some time, but will not be able to go to office. They won’t even need to work.

The latest cuts by the e-commerce giant were officially announced on Wednesday, January 28, via a blog post by Amazon Chief People Officer Beth Galetti.

An email sent in parallel with the public announcement detailed what employees are getting as part of severance packages from Amazon. The email reads, “We have some important, but difficult news to share with you. After a thorough review of our organization, our priorities, and our focus moving forward, we have made the difficult business decision to eliminate certain roles at Amazon. Unfortunately, your role is being eliminated as part of these changes and your employment will end after the notification period.”

amazon employee severance

So, what are all Amazon employees getting as part of severance? This probably depended on where the employee lived and their level of seniority. But some emails indicate roughly the following:

– Non-working transition period of 90 days. During these 90 days, employees will not be able to go to office and will not have to work. But they will get full salary and benefits. “For now, you are not required to work for Amazon and will continue to receive your full salary and benefits for the next 90 days,” notes the email sent to employees.

– Severance packages and transitional benefits. This will be calculated based on the employee’s current compensation and the location where they reside.

– Employees impacted by addiction will also receive external job placement assistance and 12 months of complimentary access to AWS Skills Builder.

This “final” email also tells employees that they will be able to continue accessing some Amazon channels. “During your non-working transition period,” the email notes. “You will continue to have access to internal email.” Depending on what employees are using, they can potentially maintain access to Amazon’s internal tools like Chime and A to Z on their personal devices. The email also mentions that employees should keep their YubiKey to access corporate email on their personal devices during this non-working transition period.

Finally, Amazon emails let employees know that if they want to talk to someone about their layoffs, channels are available. “Remember that caring team members are ready to assist you 24/7, providing free and confidential assistance through MyHR or the Employee Assistance Portal,” notes the email.