Amazon Confirms Job Cuts at One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy

In an internal memo, 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 news of these job cuts comes after Business Insider reported on the company’s planned announcement. In the internal memo, Lindsay expressed regret that employees heard about the cuts externally before receiving official communication.

Despite these job cuts, CEO Andy Jassy recently expressed optimism about Amazon’s pharmacy and One Medical offerings. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Jassy highlighted the rapid growth of Amazon Pharmacy and its momentum in the market.

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 has seen a positive response from customers.

Meanwhile, 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.

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 let go of 80 employees, and several 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.