FNV expects little impact from Amazon mass layoffs in the Netherlands
Photo: ANP
The publicized mass layoffs by web store group Amazon will probably largely pass the Netherlands by, thinks the trade union FNV. According to FNV director Michiel Al, the American company has only one delivery center in the Netherlands, near Schiphol. There he actually expected no doubts as long as there are people in the Netherlands who continue to order articles.
Amazon will cut more than 18,000 jobs, CEO Andy Jassy has announced. Jobs will also disappear in Europe, although it is not yet known exactly where. According to Al, Amazon Netherlands can be compared with a pinprick of the total workforce in terms of staff numbers. At the end of September, the group had more than 1.5 million employees worldwide.
Al estimates that about 150 to 200 people work at the Dutch delivery center, a distribution point for packages that come from other Amazon distribution centers in Europe. According to him, these are laid-off temporary workers. Furthermore, as far as the trade unionist knows, there are also some office workers working in the Netherlands. He estimates that this concerns dozens of people, but FNV has no contact with them.
The presence of the bond is in any case very limited by Amazon, which wants to keep well-known unions out as much as possible. Amazon only started a Dutch version of its webshop during the corona pandemic. The delivery center will open in the summer of 2021. FNV then learned to talk to the management of the company. “But I had been looking at an invitation for six months,” says Al.
The FNV member thinks that Amazon’s grip in Europe will be felt mainly in Germany. According to him, this is the company’s largest European market. He also does not rule out a relatively large job loss in Luxembourg. “When it comes to office functions, Luxembourg may be affected, because that’s where Amazon’s European hospital is located.”
A statement from Amazon Netherlands declined to comment further.