Stock Watch

Amazon to sack 18,000 workers over ‘uncertain economy’

By Abubakar Yunus Abuja

Amazon, an American multinational technology company, says it is planning to sack over 18,000 employees from its total workforce.

The figure, which is the largest number of layoffs in the company’s history, represents 1.2 percent of its 1.5 million employees across the globe.

Andy Jassy, chief executive officer of Amazon, announced the development in a public staff note on Thursday.

He attributed the job cuts to the “uncertain economy” and the company’s rapid hiring over the last several years.

“As I shared back in November, as part of our annual planning process for 2023, leaders across the company have been working with their teams and looking at their workforce levels, investments they want to make in the future, and prioritising what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses,” the Amazon CEO said.

“This year’s review has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years. In November, we communicated the hard decision to eliminate a number of positions across our devices and books businesses, and also announced a voluntary reduction offer for some employees in our people, experience, and technology (PXT) organisation.

“I also shared that we weren’t done with our annual planning process and that I expected there would be more role reductions in early 2023.

“Today, I wanted to share the outcome of these further reviews, which is the difficult decision to eliminate additional roles. Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles.”

Jassy said while the layoffs will be carried out across departments, it would majorly impact Amazon Stores and PXT organisations.

He added that all the affected employees will receive packages that also include external job placement support.

“S-team and I are deeply aware that these role eliminations are difficult for people, and we don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted. 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,” he explained.

According to Jassy, the announcement was not expected to be released this early but was done so after an Amazon teammate allegedly leaked the information.

“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, we decided it was better to share this news earlier so you can hear the details directly from me,” he said.

Jassy said the company will start informing affected staff from January 18.

In November last year, multiple outlets had reported that Amazon had planned to fire around 10,000 employees.

The company later confirmed the layoffs but it didn’t disclose how many employees would be affected.

NNPC denies exporting 17.87m barrels of oil without documentation

By Abubakar Yunus Abuja

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it did not export 17.877 million barrels of crude oil without proper documentation from 2016 to 2020.

A report, quoting the former auditor-general of the federation (AuGF), had accused some exporters of shipping crude oil without completing the required Nigeria export proceeds (NXP) forms.

The AuGF was also said to have faulted NNPC Limited for appointing inspection agents in 2017, in flagrant disregard of a preceding directive by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Responding to the report in a statement on Thursday, Garba Deen Muhammad, NNPC’s spokesperson, said the claims were ‘malicious’.

Muhammad said the AuGF’s report mentioned 32 oil marketing companies involved in the noncompletion of NXP forms.

He added that the issue did not affect repatriation of sales proceeds to the national oil company and subsequently, the federal accounts, for the period in question.

“Our attention has been drawn to an online publication, alleging that NNPC Limited exported 17.877 million barrels of crude oil without proper documentation in four years (2016 to 2020),” the statement reads.

“The auditor-general’s report in reference did mention 32 oil marketing companies involved in the non-completion of the NXP forms but that does not in any way mean that the proceeds from the sale of the said crude were not repatriated into the coffers of NNPC Limited and consequently into the federation accounts for federation related barrels.

“It should also be noted that NNPC Limited does not appoint inspection agents as alleged, but rather, it is the sole responsibility of the federal ministry of finance.

“Therefore, the general public is advised to disregard the said malicious publication, and instead, visit the relevant auditorgeneral’s website to see the full content of the audit report, and be guided accordingly.”

Entrepreneurs affected by COVID receive grants in Kogi

By Abubakar Yunus Abuja

The Kogi government says it has commenced the disbursement of funds to the micro and small business owners in the state to boost entrepreneurial development.

The gesture is said to be done in collaboration with the Kogi enterprise development agency (KEDA).

In a recent statement by Yemi Balogun, public relations officer, KEDA, the agency said the funds disbursed to beneficiaries is a project by the COVID-19 action recovery and economic stimulus (KG-CARES) targeting businesses that were adversely affected by the pandemic.

In March 2021, Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi said he had no need for vaccines, insisting that there was no coronavirus in the state.

“COVID-19 is not our business in Kogi state. We have more prominent issues,” Bello had said.

But the state government continued to receive COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government.

Speaking on the disbursement, KEDA said the funds are meant to facilitate the recovery of MSEs and enhance the capacities of small businesses in the operational sector, not leaving behind those who took loans from financial institutions and for information communication technology enhancement.

It added that the funds include, DLI 3.1 (a credit grant), DLI 3.2 (an operational grant), and DLI 3.3 (an ICT enhancement grant).

Rekiya Sanni, managing director, KEDA, said the governor has shown “unparalleled commitment” to business growth and wealth creation in the state.

“As a matter of fact, this is a grant and not a loan given to beneficiaries and they are not expected to pay back,” she said.

“The governor put us on our toes and gave us a marching order to ensure business owners get the funds in the first week of January.

“My staff went to work to deliver on the mandate of his excellency because we know and understand his passion for business growth in the state. Let me reiterate the fact that KEDA is desirous of monitoring the application of the funds to ensure they are used for the purposes they are meant for.

“This is just an iceberg of support queued by the new direction government to Kogi business communities.”

Also speaking on the government financial support, Eniola Jethro, one of the beneficiaries, said the funds received would be used to expand his business.

“I woke up to an alert from the KG-CARES this morning and I was wondering if it was a dream. But it is a reality. While we were celebrating Christmas and New Year, our government was busy working to put smiles on our faces,” Jethro said.

Eniola Olayemi, deputy coordinator, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Kogi West, lauded the efforts of the KEDA for the “sterling transparency in selecting beneficiaries”.

According to Olayemi, the nation will be better if people with genuine needs and business plans are treated in the manner the state is currently doing.

“With the mechanism KEDA set up in line with the governor’s principle of equity and transparency, it was so seamless and everyone is satisfied,” he said.