Amazon Confirms Job Cuts at One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy
In a recent announcement, Amazon has confirmed that it is cutting hundreds of jobs across its divisions, One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy. The goal of these cuts, according to Amazon Health Services SVP Neil Lindsay, is to realign resources in order to meet the divisions’ goals. However, the company has not disclosed the exact number of employees or the specific roles that will be impacted by these cuts.
Affected employees will receive financial support and benefit continuation, as well as the opportunity to apply for new roles within Amazon. It is 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 internal memo regarding these job cuts was sent after Business Insider reported on the planned announcement. In the memo, Lindsay expressed regret that employees heard about the cuts externally before receiving official communication from the company.
Despite these job cuts, CEO Andy Jassy recently expressed optimism about the growth of Amazon’s pharmacy business and One Medical offerings. He highlighted the momentum and rapid growth of Amazon Pharmacy 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 seen a “very good take-up” among customers.
Amazon’s pharmacy business has also been expanding through various 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 several healthcare roles were dissolved when Amazon Care, the company’s hybrid care offering, shut down.