Amazon is laying off hundreds of workers in its healthcare division

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Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs across its two health-focussed companies, One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy, suggesting that even top brass at Amazon think getting into medical billing or telemedicine may not be the best future strategy idea.

Per Business Insider (paywall, via CNBC), One Medical was acquired by Amazon in July 2022 for around $3.9 billion, after buying prescription consolidation and delivery service PillPack in 2018, as part of a “multi-year effort to grow its presence in health care.”

And now, perhaps regretting the purchase (as we all do, just, I hope, not on this scale), Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is lumping it in with a multi-year round of job cuts, after over 27,000 jobs were cut across the sickly behemoth between 2022 and 2023, including an undisclosed ‘small number’ of Amazon Pharmacy workers.

More Amazon job cuts

Amazon Health Services boss Neil Lindsay broke the news in an employee memo heavy on words but light on tangible substance.

“As we continue to make it easier for people to get and stay healthy, we have identified areas where we can reposition resources so we can invest in invention and experiences that have a direct impact on our customers and members of all ages,” he said. “Unfortunately, these changes will result in the elimination of a few hundred roles across One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy.”

Will ‘investing in invention’ and ‘repositioning resources’ (absolutely top-class spin, Amazon PR droid) inevitably equal the shuttering of the whole division on the basis of ‘jack of all trades, master of none’? Time will tell.

CNBC reported that Lindsay suggested in another statement that Amazon would continue to invest in healthcare.

Analysis: A leaking boat on the Amazon?

Even the bits of this story that we do know about were set in motion by a leak. In his company memo, Lindsay wrote that “we typically wait to communicate about these outcomes until we can speak with the people who are directly impacted. However, because one of our teammates leaked this information externally, I wanted you to hear the details directly from me.”

Jassy, in CNBC’s words, has been ‘targeting some of the company’s newer and more unproven bets’. All while continuing to bet and lash out at loved ones in proper addict fashion.

So, perhaps we should expect more leaks, and for redundancy to continue until profit improves, but never, of course, for the ship to finally sink. For He (capitalism) said to Noah: ‘build an online store for selling books’, Noah said ‘yes mate’, and the rest is history, with He (capitalism) giving His (capitalism’s) blessing for all other resulting atrocities.