Fayetteville Today

Amazon workers across the state and the country will have to wait until Wednesday, Jan. 18, to learn whether the company’s planned layoffs will affect them.

The company has announced it is planning to lay off about 18,000 workers – mostly in its People, Experience and Technology Organization and its retail business.

"Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so,” Andy Jassy, Amazon’s CEO, said, according to ABC 11 News. "I’m also optimistic that we'll be inventive, resourceful and scrappy in this time."

This is the highest number amount of job cuts in the company's history. Still, it is just 1.2% of the approximate 1.5 million workers that Amazon employs worldwide.

"We are working to support those who are affected and are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits and external job placement support,” Jassy told ABC 11 News, adding that the company will reach out on Jan. 18 to those employees who will be losing their jobs.

Amazon declined to comment about whether employees in North Carolina would be affected by the cuts. Robert Van Geons, the president and CEO of the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation, speculated that the layoffs shouldn't affect warehouses, like the one in Raleigh or the one that will be opening in Fayetteville this year.

The new Fayetteville warehouse is expected to lead to about 500 new jobs and, layoffs aside, the facility should still be a positive thing for the city.

"When Amazon chooses your community for not one but two facilities, it makes it a very clear statement about your local economy, about how we're growing, about how we're a great place for logistics and manufacturing operations,” Van Geons said, according to ABC 11 News. “It will add over $100 million of tax base, which will pay for schools, parks, public services. So it's a great thing all the way around." 

Van Geons said the anticipated jobs with Amazon will be a major opportunity for Fayetteville residents as well.

"Amazon's wages are above the traditional service sector wage,” he told ABC 11 News. “For many people, this could mean an increase in their wages of 30 to 50%."

As a side note, Van Geons alerted people who were interested in applying for Amazon jobs at the Fayetteville warehouse to watch out for scam job postings, most of which occur online. He recommended that prospective workers should search for jobs and apply directly on the Amazon website.