Tech Gadget Central Latest Tech News and Reviews
Amazon is scrambling to save money wherever it can after announcing a significant round of layoffs that will affect 18,000 workers just a few days ago and ending AmazonSmile.
AmazonSmile is a program that donates 0.5% of the price of all qualifying purchases to charitable organizations. It is a different website where you can browse and make purchases similar to those on Amazon.com. However, Amazon would record your purchases and make donations on your behalf.
Customers of Amazon began receiving an email from the company announcing the modification. The closing date for AmazonSmile is February 20, 2023.
“The program hasn’t developed to have the impact we had originally hoped for after almost ten years. Our ability to have an impact was frequently too thin because there were so many eligible organizations — more than 1 million globally,” the company wrote.
Through the AmazonSmile initiative, Amazon has donated $400 million since 2013. Smaller organizations only received a few dollars annually, while larger ones most likely received a larger portion of those donations. Nonprofits won’t turn down $400 million, though.
Amazon will make a one-time donation to charities that have taken part in the AmazonSmile program that is equal to three months’ worth of donations made through the program. It resembles a severance package for charities.
Amazon’s bottom line will be impacted by the program’s conclusion in two ways. First, AmazonSmile purchases no longer require the company to set aside 0.5%. Second, there were people working hard on the independent storefront, charity connections, and other things. By discontinuing AmazonSmile, the business will be able to let go of some program staff.
Yesterday, Amazon began informing those who will be affected by the layoffs. Due to the timing of this announcement, the company’s largest-ever round of job cuts and the termination of the AmazonSmile program are mutually exclusive.
The market value of Amazon is currently $974 billion. The business reported operating income of $2.5 billion in its most recent earnings report. Although it wasn’t a record quarter, Amazon is not in danger of going bankrupt.
