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 is not disclosing the number of employees or 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 on a hiring freeze and will continue to hire providers and employees for One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy.
The announcement of these job cuts comes after Business Insider reported on the planned cuts before the company’s official announcement. In the internal memo, Lindsay apologized to employees for not being able to communicate about these outcomes before they heard about it externally.
Despite the job cuts, CEO Andy Jassy recently expressed optimism about the growth of Amazon’s pharmacy and One Medical offerings. He highlighted the momentum seen in the Amazon Pharmacy business during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
Amazon completed its acquisition of primary care chain One Medical in February for $3.9 billion. Additionally, the company announced discounted One Medical memberships for Prime users in November, which Jassy stated had a “very good take-up” among customers.
Amazon’s pharmacy business has also 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.
These job cuts are 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 healthcare roles were dissolved when Amazon Care shut down its hybrid care offering.
Overall, these job cuts reflect Amazon’s ongoing efforts to optimize its operations and align resources with its strategic goals.