Indian Govt to Investigate Spate of Resignations at Amazon: Report

Amazon had already announced that it would cut its workforce by up to 10,000 globally. After this, several Indian Amazon employees allegedly received the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) asking them to resign.

India's Labor Ministry will inquire into recent resignations at Amazon India to ascertain whether the recent lay-offs violated the country's employment laws, daily local newspaper Hindustan Times reported on Monday.

According to the report, the ministry gave notice to Amazon India last week after receiving a complaint from the Nascent Information Technology Employees' Senate (NITES), a non-governmental organization for IT professionals.

In its complaint, NITES says that it has asked for a detailed inquiry stressing that the "livelihoods of thousands of employees and their families have been made vulnerable. The company has also given a deadline to the employees of 30 November 2022, to complete this process."

Amazon India's senior officials are also expected to appear before the deputy chief labor commissioner in Bengaluru city, Karnataka state, this week.

Meanwhile, at the weekend, Amazon maintained that it did not sack any employee, insisting, "Amazon lay-offs were voluntary resignations by employees".

The ministry is expected to contact employees who opted for the voluntary exit scheme.

Previously, Amazon India said it would shut down the company's food delivery service in the country by the end of 2022 and wind up its ed-tech ventures by the end of November.

Last week, the company said it would also close Amazon Academy, an online learning platform in India for high school pupils.