Amazon (AMZN) investors closed off the week with the stock gaining +3.18% the last 5 days, which means it sits at +13.32% YTD.
Here's this weeks news on Amazon - let's go through it together.
1. Get rid of Labels
2. Union Saves Jobs
3. Full Steam Ahead
4. No More Smiles
5. Not Safe for Work
6. $35B Investment
LEGEND: Positive News | Neutral News | Negative News
1. Get rid of Labels
2 companies owned by Amazon - Zappos and Whole Foods, have teamed up to make your life easier when returning items purchased from Zappos.
There will be no labels or boxes required to return items, simply drop it off at your local Whole Foods.
The angle? This will get customers to walk into their local Whole Foods, with the hopes they pick up a few items as well "since they're already there".
2. Union Saves Jobs
Earlier this month, Amazon planned to cut 18,000 jobs globally.
But Amazon Italy looks to be spared from jobs cuts.
Other countries in Europe may not be as lucky, but we'll update you on that as it's announced.
3. Full Steam Ahead
Amazon kicked off it's round of 18,000 employee layoffs this week.
Job cuts happening in US, Canada, and Costa Rica and a memo was sent to staff letting them know of the changes.
About 6% of total 300,000 corporate employees will be affected with this round of cuts, mainly impacting the e-commerce and HR divisions.
We'll likely see more of these updates in coming weeks as Amazon continues their cuts.
4. No More Smiles
After a decade, Amazon is shutting down it's charity program - AmazonSmile.
This program would allow customers to donate a percentage of sales of certain items to charity.
Amazon believes this program has not created the impact they hoped for, and will be winding down operations on February 20.
5. Not Safe for Work
The OSHA (safety and health administration) fined Amazon $60,269.
Why?
They claim Amazon has failed to keep workers safe (particularly in warehouses). Specifically, they found hazards for workers at 3 different warehouses. Worker safety has been something Amazon has seen a lot of criticism for, and although the fine is relatively insignificant for them, it does set a precedent.
Amazon will appeal this fine and claim injuries at their warehouses have actually dropped by 15% in the last few years.
6. $35B Investment
Amazon announced it will be investing $35 Billion into AWS in Virginia.
This deal will be focused on spending for state of the art data center equipment, and create 1,000+ jobs by 2040.
In exchange for this massive investment by Amazon in Virginia, the government has provided them incentives - like a 15 year extension on tax exemptions for certain categories.
This is a bolt move by Amazon however if you follow this company closely, you know that they are laser focused on investing in themselves, and a focus to grow AWS here isn't a bad idea considering it's a highly profitable and growth centered part of the company.
That's it for this week.
We look forward to spending a few minutes with you next Sunday for some new Amazon news!
Disclosure: I am a Amazon.com (AMZN) shareholder at the time of publishing.