Amazon has announced plans to close three UK warehouses, affecting 1,200 jobs, according to PA Media on Tuesday.
The company announced last week that it would lay off more than 18,000 employees in its e-commerce and human resources departments, the latest in a string of layoffs in the tech industry.
Separately, Amazon’s UK business has faced demands for higher pay from its warehouse workers, 300 of whom plan to strike on January 25.
Previously, Amazon announced that it would be laying off another 18,000 workers due to a “uncertain economy,” with a promise to provide the workers affected by the company’s move with severance payments, health insurance, and placement support, which is critical during a job-stricken period.
This comes just over a month after Amazon laid off 10,000 employees in one of the largest-ever tech layoffs in November of last year.
In addition, by the end of January, Amazon will broadly roll out a feature that will allow online merchants outside its platform to use the e-commerce giant’s payment and delivery services.
‘Buy With Prime,’ which was launched as an invite-only offering in April, will be widely available to US-based merchants by the end of January, according to the company.
It also stated that the product increased shopper conversion rates by an average of 25 per cent, implying that many more people ordered when ‘Buy with Prime’ was available as opposed to when it was not.
