The global eCommerce behemoth Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is sailing through an extremely challenging time. The worst thing is, the situation is only bound to go from bad to worse as the world is staring at the longest-ever recession. Â
The market value of Amazon has tanked to nearly half in just one year as the stock value of the company continues to be on a downward trajectory. In the last 52 weeks, the stock value of Amazon.com has declined from the peak of $188.11 to just $98.77, resulting in the company’s market cap falling below $1 trillion. In November 2021, the company touched $1.86 trillion in terms of market cap.
Barely a year ago all odds were in favour of Amazon.com. Analysts across the world were confident about Amazon.com becoming only the third tech company to cross the $2 trillion market cap after Apple and Microsoft. Â
Amazon has also become the world’s first tech company that lost over $1 trillion in market cap. Rising inflation, tightening money policies and disappointing earnings updates are the major reasons behind the unprecedented decline.
Amazon.com is not the only company in the trillion-dollar club which has recorded a sharp decline in its market cap. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – the other four tech giants that either are or were part of the club – are facing the heat as well, albeit not as badly as Amazon and Meta. The market cap of Apple, Microsoft and Google is down by 18.53%, 27.84% and 34%, respectively. However, the scenario of Meta and Amazon is quite concerning as both companies lost 66.26% and 42.20%, respectively, since the beginning of 2022.
Amazon planning the largest layoff in history
If you still believe that the chances of the most horrific and longest recession that many thought leaders have been warning about for the last few weeks are very slim, pay attention to the above figures, once again. All of it clearly indicates that the world is fast syncing into a recession that would force many companies to make unprecedented cuts to their global workforce.Â
Twitter and Meta have already laid off tens of thousands of employees, and, perhaps, it’s time for Amazon.com to follow the path. According to NYTimes, the eCommerce giant is planning to let go over 10,000 employees, making it the largest-ever layoff in the history of its existence. There are nearly 150,000 Amazon employees worldwide, so the layoff figure looks insignificant in percentage terms. The number of Tech layoffs in 2022 has already crossed a concerning figure of 121,000 and Amazon layoffs would only make the situation even more worrisome for employees.