Disbanded on the spot! Amazon sellers have laid off a large number of employees at the beginning of the year

The valuation of Amazon operations is cooling along with the cross-border recruitment market!

At present, a large number of cross-border workers are eager to resign, and those who are quick have already submitted their resignation applications on the first day of work on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.

This is not surprising. Every year after the Spring Festival, there is an annual peak period for job hunting and recruitment! As the saying goes, March is the golden month and April is the silver month. As March approaches, it is foreseeable that the large-scale flow of people in the cross-border circle will continue for some time.

In recent times, although the job search and recruitment market seems to have strong supply and demand, the recruitment and job search market in 2022 has always changed.

At the beginning of 2021, Amazon's operations positions were more popular than ever, and there were many examples of major cross-border companies poaching people with high salaries. At that time, operations held the dominant position, and it was not an exaggeration to say that they were "queuing up to choose a boss." Just one year later, the status of operations has taken a sharp turn for the worse.

In terms of salary, which is of collective concern, cross-border e-commerce workers clearly feel that they have been "devalued". According to existing feedback, more than one job seeker has found that the overall base salary in Shenzhen is too low. In addition, even the number of job openings is shrinking sharply. Cross-border e-commerce companies are no longer thinking about expanding their scale, but are striving to be "small and beautiful".

" My small goal this year is not to be laid off "!

It is reported that at the beginning of 2022, many cross-border e-commerce companies have announced large-scale layoffs, and some companies have even directly announced their dissolution on the spot. Seeing their peers being laid off on the first day of work, an old employee who is still in office only prays that the bad news of "layoffs" will not happen to him, and he has no intention of changing jobs again!

From the grand occasion of companies poaching employees with high salaries in 2021 to the current salary cuts, layoffs and downsizing of companies, the people in Amazon's operations positions are facing unprecedented challenges, and cross-border e-commerce companies are also experiencing a major test of the times!

Amazon operators’ restlessness and anxiety

"Recruit, recruit, recruit."

"After the New Year, the company is looking for high-quality operators for the American website. No cheating, high commissions, and two days off a week."

“We are looking for hardworking, smart, and able to endure loneliness in cross-border e-commerce operations.”

…

At the beginning of the new year, the recruitment market seems to be booming. Whether it is Weibo or WeChat Moments, it is flooded with a large number of recruitment information. "Yesterday, there was one resignation application, and today there were three resignation applications." According to the feedback from cross-border e-commerce bosses, the company's personnel turnover has been frequent in recent times, and people have successively resigned.

The report shows that, in terms of generations, the later the generation of people born, the stronger their intention to change jobs after the Spring Festival. Among them, those born in the 1970s accounted for the smallest proportion, at 7.69%. Those born in the 1990s and 2000s accounted for a similar proportion, at 37.11% and 37.50% respectively.

Xiao A is one of the people who has already resigned. It is reported that he submitted his resignation application on his first day at work, and several colleagues in his company are also about to resign. In other cross-border e-commerce companies, many employees are also restless, " On the first day of work, half of the company group was missing ."

According to Xiao A, the current salary situation is not ideal, and there is no two-day weekend off, so everyone wants to change their working environment. Overall, the reasons for these operators to leave are basically related to factors such as two-day weekend off, salary, and commission.

The supply and demand for job hunting and recruitment are both booming, and the market rankings of recruitment apps have generally increased.

Qimai data shows that in the first week of work after the 2022 Spring Festival, the market rankings of recruitment apps generally increased.

According to the China App Store Free List (Business), BOSS Direct, Zhaopin.com and Liepin.com have been ranked in the top 10 recently. The rankings of major recruitment software have risen to varying degrees.

Taking the data from February 10 as an example, on that day, BOSS Zhipin rose 5 places to No. 30 on the App Store app list. Zhaopin rose 7 places to No. 60. Liepin rose 8 places to No. 151.

The wave of resignations and recruitments after the Spring Festival is both reasonable and unexpected. This is because the turnover of personnel at the beginning of each year is inevitable, but compared with 2021, the cross-border recruitment market in 2022 is indeed too "cold" and "shabby".

It is reported that although a large number of cross-border e-commerce companies have experienced staff turnover, the intensity of staff turnover is not as intense as imagined. The report shows that 24.95% of people want to change jobs after the Spring Festival this year , while the proportion of people who want to change jobs after the start of work in 2021 and 2020 is 34.46% and 21.85% respectively. The proportion of people who want to change jobs after the start of work this year is significantly lower than that in 2021, indicating that people in the workplace are more inclined to seek stability this year.

Even if many workers want to quit, they often do not quit without a plan, but wait until they find a new job. The current situation is that both the supply and demand sides have a market, but it is difficult to match them. It is difficult for the bosses of cross-border e-commerce companies to recruit people, and it is also difficult for the majority of workers to find a job they like.

"I have more than four years of experience in high-end products. When I sent my resume to my boss, only one in ten companies invited me for an interview. Now there are far fewer companies recruiting for operations positions than last year, and my choices are getting fewer and fewer," more than one job seeker reported. At present, the number of job openings released by cross-border e-commerce companies this year has decreased by nearly half compared to the same period last year, and the requirements have also increased a lot. It is difficult to find a company to submit a resume to.

The "2022 Spring Recruitment Market Weekly Report (Issue 1)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") released by Zhaopin on February 14 showed that under the background of the normalization of the COVID-19 pandemic and the weakening of economic expectations, the scale of corporate recruitment shrank slightly in the first week after the Spring Festival, and the number of recruitment positions decreased by 4.5% year-on-year. 60.5% of the respondents believed that job hunting this spring was more difficult than last year. In terms of industry, the demand for recruitment in the Internet e-commerce and computer software related industries is relatively large. Among them, the logistics and warehousing industry has a strong demand for positions, and the number of positions has ranked first in the increase.

In cross-border e-commerce operations, not only has the number of recruitment positions been "reduced", but even the basic salary is not satisfactory.

"Three years of work experience only gives less than 10,000 yuan in basic salary." In Shenzhen, the capital of cross-border e-commerce, Xiao A found that the basic salary is getting higher and higher. The current situation makes him regret his decision to resign.

Xiao B resigned earlier and started looking for a job before the beginning of 2021. After searching for a long time, he still couldn't find a suitable job. Some of the companies were too far from home, and two companies did not offer suitable salaries. "They are all suppressing the basic salary. Now the whole industry is in a state of internal competition, and Amazon is not as good as before." Xiao A is nearly 30 years old and has the idea of ​​changing careers, but he doesn't know what he can do after changing careers.

In the cross-border circle, there are many operators who are in the same situation as Xiao A. Behind their restlessness and anxiety, there is actually uncertainty about the future.

Amazon operations positions are for young people. An industry insider said that when many companies are recruiting new operations personnel, they generally give priority to college graduates. Currently, cross-border e-commerce companies are basically half occupied by people born after 1995. People who are 30 years old or above do not have much competitive advantage unless they have rich or unique personal resources.

The current Amazon recruitment market is putting forward more stringent requirements for those born in the 1990s, because relatively speaking, newcomers offer lower wages, but are more passionate and energetic, and have huge room for growth. Although veterans in the workplace have mastered certain operational knowledge and are quick to get started, their wages are increasing with their years of work, but their contributions to the company have not increased year-on-year, which means that they have to spend more costs on the company.

After weighing the two, newcomers are often the "hot cakes" in the eyes of cross-border bosses . For those who are 30 years old and above, it seems that there are only three choices: change careers, be promoted to management, or go it alone! Each path seems difficult.

Promotion to company management is often an opportunity for a few individuals. Some of the remaining large number of old employees will resign and start their own business. Going it alone is a dangerous road. Without funds and resources, it is difficult to grow big. Therefore, many people have the desire to go it alone but do not have the courage to do so. Of course, some people will choose to change careers. What to do? A large number of people are thinking about this.

Layoffs are back, with the total profit margin of major sellers less than 5%

"Three people who hold my position and have more seniority than me have already resigned. I heard that they were persuaded to leave because the company wanted to save costs by cutting staff," said Little C, who has been in the workplace for less than a year and is now the most senior person in the company.

The scene of large-scale layoffs at the beginning of the year is happening in many cross-border e-commerce companies: a company with hundreds of employees laid off employees without any reason; after the new year, 2 of the 10 people in the team resigned voluntarily and 3 were fired; a company that just dissolved was also an Amazon cross-border e-commerce company ...

An Amazon operator who felt the crisis lamented: "I can't resign at will"!

Xiao D told Yien.com that although the boss did not publicly mention the dismissal of employees, he was secretly forcing people to resign. It is reported that in 2021, the Amazon platform broke out the largest account blocking incident in history. Affected by the 2021 Amazon account blocking, his company's performance has declined sharply, and there are still a large number of unsaleable goods that need to be cleared. It is not an exaggeration to describe the company's current situation as "hanging by a thread".

Behind Amazon's iron-blooded ban, countless cross-border e-commerce companies are struggling to survive. In order to survive, some company departments have persuaded 60% of their employees to resign in the second half of 2021, and many cross-border e-commerce companies have directly disbanded on the spot.

Amazon publicly announced that it has shut down the sales rights of about 600 brands, involving about 3,000 seller accounts of these brands, including some large sellers, such as Youkeshu, Zebao and Tongtuo. According to public information, these three big sellers have all been hit hard, and their operating performance has declined to varying degrees.

After the ban fell in 2021, there were reports of violent layoffs and suppliers coming to Youkeshu Company to collect debts, but the chain reaction of negative reactions caused by the ban is still continuing to exert pressure.

Since the first half of 2021, the policy environment of the Amazon platform has changed unfavorably, and the control over e-commerce sellers has been strengthened, causing the industry to suffer a short-term haze. In addition, cross-border logistics prices and cross-border logistics time have fluctuated frequently in the short term. In order to accelerate the recovery of funds, some companies in the industry have chosen to quickly reduce inventory through price cuts and promotions, resulting in a more intense industry competition environment . The survival environment of Amazon sellers is really worrying.

On the one hand, there is a collective plunge in sales and profits of cross-border sellers.

On January 28, Youkeshu responded to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's inquiry, saying that as of the end of the reporting period, Youkeshu's frozen store funds on the Amazon platform had a balance of approximately 100 million yuan, accounting for 90% of the total balance of Amazon store funds at the end of the period; the number of blocked sites in 2021 was approximately 400, accounting for approximately 12% of the total number of active Amazon sites at the end of the period. Due to the freezing of large amounts of funds, Youkeshu's operating funds for 2021 shrank more than expected. Combined with multiple factors such as the adjustment of the independent station business, the company's operating income fell sharply during the reporting period, and its cross-border e-commerce export business suffered large losses. The sales prices of some of Youkeshu's high-priced products in the early stage were passively lowered, and the overall gross profit margin continued to decline. In addition, as cross-border logistics rates have generally risen since 2021, the company predicts that its operating profit margin in 2021 will drop to around 2%-5%.

Affected by the Amazon account suspension incident, Zebao is also facing its darkest moment. The latest data shows that Zebao Technology expects to achieve operating income of approximately 2.55 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year decrease of 46.55% from the operating income in 2020, and only 45.43% of the 2021 annual revenue predicted in the 2020 goodwill impairment test report.

In terms of profit margin, Zebao predicts that the total profit margin in 2021 will be 6.39%, a figure that even many small and medium-sized players cannot match.

Under the influence of factors such as the residual power of Amazon's account ban, Zebao's total profit margin will continue to decline in 2022. According to Yien.com, in the first half of 2021, Zebao's sales scale continued to rise, and there was a large inventory. In the second half of the year, sales slowed down due to the closure of stores and brands. In order to recover cash flow, Zebao reduced prices for promotions. In addition, the overall cross-border logistics rates have increased significantly, and overseas warehousing fees and last-mile delivery costs have continued to increase. Zebao predicts that the total profit margin will drop to 0.97%-4.97% from 2022 to the stable period.

Another listed seller whose account was blocked, Tongtuo Technology, did not disclose detailed data on its revenue and profit margin in 2021. However, Tongtuo, which is highly dependent on the Amazon platform, is currently in no better situation than Youkeshu and Zebao. It is reported that due to the Amazon incident, the stores involved in multiple brands of Tongtuo were suspended from sales by Amazon and their funds were frozen, resulting in a significant decline in Tongtuo Technology's operating income and gross profit in the second half of the year, and a loss in the e-commerce sector .

On the other hand, as the cross-border e-commerce business environment continues to deteriorate , all cross-border sellers are facing a major test of the times. The current situation is that Amazon sellers are facing a quadruple squeeze from the platform, peers, service providers, and buyers. Sellers who do not have supply chain advantages and do not operate in a compliant and refined manner will inevitably become the first to be eliminated .

First of all, the epidemic has accelerated the development of cross-border B2C, not only attracting capital from all sides, but also driving more ordinary people to enter the cross-border e-commerce market. Sellers are in a multi-market situation, and the backlash is obvious. At the beginning of 2022, a large number of Amazon sellers have reported that advertising fees are becoming more and more expensive, but traffic and orders have both fallen sharply year-on-year.

There are more factors behind the decline in traffic and order volume. At present, there are more and more cross-border e-commerce platforms, and the platforms are also beginning to compete with each other. The large number of platforms for consumers to choose from has also aggravated the dispersion of traffic. In addition, various official self-operated businesses are eyeing them, leaving sellers with little room to make money. They are beginning to realize that refinement and branding will lead to a better future.

Small and beautiful is in fashion

The great test of the times is like a mountain for everyone.

Today's cross-border e-commerce companies are facing the pain of transformation , and downsizing has temporarily become a means of self-protection for them.

Industry insiders said that small and beautiful is not a derogatory term, but sometimes a kind of refinement . It is easy to encounter risks while pursuing scale. Many small bosses make some money and tend to be ambitious, but in fact their lives are as fragile as paper .

Expanding the factory, increasing the number of employees, and expanding the company's scale all in one go can actually easily lead to operational risks .

Xiao Zhang is one of the Amazon sellers who wants to downsize his company. This is because he once pushed his company to the brink of a cliff due to blind expansion.

It is reported that Xiao Zhang has worked for Amazon for several years. In 2020, he made a lot of money by taking advantage of the epidemic. At the beginning of 2021, he was thinking about expanding the scale of the company. As a result, the situation suddenly changed and took a sharp turn for the worse. Xiao Zhang's money was stuck in the goods. In 2021, he failed to make money and was trapped by the inventory. Xiao Zhang spent almost half a year clearing the inventory. At the beginning of 2022, Xiao Zhang also proposed to lay off employees and reduce the scale of the company. He said that the current funds are actually only enough for the company to last until June at most. If the profitability of the store has not improved by then, he will lay off employees and only leave a few key operating personnel.

Xiao Zhang is not the only Amazon seller who suffered the backlash of expansion in 2021.

Xiao Li is laying off employees! He actually avoided the Amazon account ban wave, and his company was not affected by Amazon's ban at all, but he failed because of his choice. He saw business opportunities in Amazon's ban, thinking that there were fewer competitors and it was a good time to do something big, so he worked hard and made crazy purchases, ignoring the skyrocketing shipping costs, and tried his best to seize the market, but problems occurred.

People familiar with the matter said that although Xiao Zhang claims that he is pursuing the high-quality route, he is actually still producing common goods from a small factory. In order to clear their inventory, his peers started a price war, which directly dragged them into the war. Sales volume has declined and profits have plummeted, so they have no choice but to lay off employees to save their lives.

In 2022, many Amazon sellers will no longer pursue scale, but strive to be small and beautiful.

"Once you become big, it's easy to go bankrupt. Layoffs are not the worst. At the beginning of the year, many companies simply disbanded on the spot," said a senior Amazon seller. He thinks the fewer people the better. Now the goal is to have a team of less than 10 people. " I don't plan to recruit people in 2022, nor do I plan to develop new products, let alone ship in large quantities. Instead, I will only pursue profits instead of sales . Fewer people will increase efficiency, and happy employees and bosses will be happy. Under the epidemic, companies with low expenses will not be affected by short-term financial difficulties. "

On the other side of the companies caught up in the layoff storm, many Amazon sellers who seek stability are quietly making a fortune. "I am more Buddhist. I sell original products. After sending them to the Amazon warehouse, I don't fake orders. I am not in a hurry to replenish stock after selling out in a month. I will make money slowly and my peers will not target me. I can make money steadily without pursuing wealth too much . "

As the working environment becomes tighter, Amazon's "dream of making wealth" has been shattered. The advantage of Amazon sellers making quick money with a "gambler's" mentality will be gone forever. Those who still believe that they can easily make money from Amazon are very close to exiting the market.

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