Amazon Confirms Job Cuts at One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy
In an internal memo shared with Healthcare Dive, Amazon Health Services SVP Neil Lindsay confirmed that the company is cutting hundreds of jobs across One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy. The goal of these cuts is to realign resources to better meet the divisions’ goals. However, Amazon has not disclosed the number of employees or the specific roles that will be impacted by the cuts.
Affected employees will receive financial support and benefit continuation, as well as the opportunity to apply for new roles within Amazon. It’s important to note that Amazon is not implementing a hiring freeze and will continue to hire providers and employees for One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy.
The news of the job cuts was reported by Business Insider before Amazon’s planned announcement. In response, Lindsay apologized to employees for the external leak and stated that the company typically waits to communicate about these outcomes until they can directly speak with those affected.
Despite the job cuts, CEO Andy Jassy recently expressed optimism about Amazon’s pharmacy and One Medical offerings during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. He highlighted the rapid growth of Amazon Pharmacy and the positive response to discounted One Medical memberships for Prime users.
Amazon completed its acquisition of primary care chain One Medical in February for $3.9 billion. They also introduced discounted One Medical memberships for Prime users in November, which saw a strong uptake according to Jassy.
In addition to its pharmacy business, Amazon has been expanding its healthcare initiatives through measures like generic drug subscriptions for Prime members and manufacturer coupons for select brand name medications. Last year, they extended these coupons for pricey insulin brands and diabetes medications.
This round of job cuts is not the first for Amazon. The company announced over 27,000 role eliminations company-wide early last year. In 2023, Amazon Pharmacy also laid off 80 employees, and several healthcare roles were dissolved when Amazon Care, their hybrid care offering, shut down.