The ministry had sent a notice to Amazon India last week after receiving a complaint of mass layoffs in violation of laws made to labor minister Builder ADAV by the Nascent Information Technology Employees’ Senate (Notes), a collective of IT professionals that has over 18,000 members.
In its reply, Amazon India management had said no employee had been fired, and some staff Members had resigned after accepting the e-commerce firm’s “voluntary separation program”.
The company in its internal communication to employees had stated that those who do not opt for the voluntary separation program will be retrenched without any benefits under a “workforce optimization program”, according to Harpreet Singh Saliva, president of Notes, which has alleged violation of labor laws.
Amazon has planned to lay off approximately 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs globally, starting last week, in what would be the largest job cuts in the company’s history, according to reports. The resignations at Amazon India are being seen as a part of the e-commerce giant’s global retrenchments.
Amazon India has said it planned to shutdown its food delivery service in Bengaluru by the end of 2022, and also wind up its ed-tech ventures in the country. On Thursday, the company said it would shutter Amazon Academy, an online learning platform in India for high school students.
Also Read | Amazon to shut down food-delivery business in India: Report
HT has reached out to Amazon India for comments, but has not received a response.
“In its response (to the labour ministry), the company said that they had expected to make more money through their business, but owing to financial expedience, they floated a voluntary exit programme. They said there were no forced layoffs. However, we will be examining whether the exits were voluntary and if the terms of services, which includes severance and notice period, were adhered to,” a ministry official said, requesting anonymity.
The ministry will also reach out to the employees who opted for the voluntary exit scheme to verify the claims made by the company.
On whether the government could intervene in the working of a private entity, the official said the ministry has the mandate to ensure that labour laws were not violated. “We will ensure that the aggrieved workers are heard, and their rights are protected. Otherwise, we will act as per the law,” the official said.
Italian companies had a record €123.2 billion ($127 billion) of Covid-era state-backed credit lines outstanding as of June 30, up from €118 billion in the previous quarter, according to a European Banking Authority report published last month. The country has the most government-guaranteed debt yet to be repaid in the euro zone, even though it’s not the region’s largest economy.
That’s putting the newly formed government of Giorgia Meloni in a quandary: how and to what extent can it keep supporting companies now grappling with higher costs, especially energy bills, in a rapidly slowing economic environment? The government is implementing an aid package allowing companies to spread out their energy bills over as many as two years, and providing gas and electricity suppliers a 90% state-backed guarantee on their exposure to the rescheduled bills.
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