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 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 these job cuts comes after Business Insider reported on the company’s planned announcement. Lindsay acknowledged in the internal memo that it would have been ideal to communicate directly with the impacted individuals before the news became public.
During Amazon’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy expressed enthusiasm for the growth of Amazon Pharmacy, stating that it is “growing really quickly.” The company completed its acquisition of primary care chain One Medical in February for $3.9 billion and introduced discounted One Medical memberships for Prime users in November. Jassy also mentioned that Amazon had seen a positive response to the discounted offering.
Amazon’s pharmacy business has been expanding through initiatives such as generic drug subscriptions for Prime members and manufacturer coupons for select brand name medications. Last year, the company extended these coupons for pricey insulin brands and diabetes medications.
This round of job cuts is not the first for Amazon. In early 2023, the company announced over 27,000 role eliminations company-wide. Later that year, Amazon Pharmacy laid off 80 employees, and several healthcare roles were dissolved when Amazon Care, the company’s hybrid care offering, shut down.