Amazon workers are using humor to cope with the stress of layoffs. With reports suggesting that the company might cut thousands of jobs soon, employees have taken to an internal Slack channel to share memes and jokes. Following a cut of about 14,000 jobs last October, the mood is tense.
A popular meme references founder Jeff Bezos’ “two-pizza rule,” which was meant to keep meetings small. Employees are now humorously pointing out the shrinking size of their teams. One meme shows a tiny slice of pizza with the caption, “how we feed two pizza teams.” Another features AWS-branded pizza boxes, hinting at cuts in Amazon’s cloud division.
Members of the Slack group are getting creative in expressing their anxiety. One employee joked that they might need more than just two medium pizzas to feed a team, suggesting that the recent trend of increasing management spans may leave teams even leaner.
Memes aren’t just about pizza. Some playfully reference the ominous date of January 27, when more layoffs are rumored to happen. One particularly popular meme shows a scene from “The Shining,” symbolizing the looming fear. Another pokes fun at corporate jargon, showcasing an error message that humorously hints at being laid off.
This isn’t an isolated incident at Amazon. Other tech companies, like Google, have also seen workers use humor as a coping mechanism during tough times. After Google announced layoffs affecting 12,000 employees, workers responded with memes highlighting the contrast between the laid-off staff and extravagant company events.
According to a recent study, about 60% of employees in the tech sector express anxiety over job security. This reflects a larger trend where companies face pressure to streamline operations amid economic uncertainty.
In challenging times, humor can provide a brief escape and a sense of solidarity among employees. As the job landscape continues to shift, workers will likely turn to creativity to navigate their fears.
For further reading on the impacts of layoffs in the tech industry, check out the latest report from Forbes.
