Red cross to sack 15,000 employees amid decline in humanitarian aid budget

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday said it would cut some 1,500 jobs and roll back operations in some locations amid on expected decline on budgets for humanitarian aid.

ICRC said its governing board last week approved $475.30 million in cost reductions over 2023 and early 2024.

“Approximately 1,500 jobs worldwide will have to be cut over the coming 12 months,” ICRC said in a statement.

“At least 20 of currently 350 locations around the world will close — where, for example, the area can be covered by another ICRC office. We will also be scaling back and closing some of our programmes.” 

As per the NGO, a mix of factors — end-of-year pledges by donors not coming and higher costs than planned in 2022 are the reasons.

Cost cuts: 5,000 GM staff takes buyouts

About 5,000 General Motors (GM) salaried workers took buyouts to leave the company, putting the firm well on the way to hitting a $2 billion cost-cutting target, the automaker’s chief financial officer said late on Tuesday.

Jacobson said GM is now allocating 75 per cent of its annual capital spending toward electric vehicle projects, which in the short term will be less profitable than the automaker’s combustion vehicles. GM has been able to raise prices in the US over the past two years as supply chain bottlenecks kept production in check.

- Reuters

Amazon sacks 100

Amazon.com laid off about 100 employees in its video-game divisions as part of its broader cutbacks, affecting workers at Prime Gaming, Game Growth and the firm’s San Diego studio.

“Our resources will be aligned to support our focus on content,” Games Vice President Christoph Hartmann wrote in a memo to employees. 

“Going forward, we will continue to invest in our internal development efforts, and our teams will continue to grow as our projects progress.”

- Bloomberg