PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Amazon announced Wednesday that they plan to cut 18,000 jobs in the coming weeks.
Palm Beach County is home to several warehouses, and it's unclear if there will be layoffs in Florida.
The company said in a statement that "several teams are impacted; however, the majority of role eliminations are in our Amazon Stores and PXT organizations."
However, there are fears that the lagging economy could impact workers in a variety of occupations.
Melissa Manhart, a West Palm Beach resident, was laid off from her job a few months ago.
"It's frustrating. Nobody sleeps because everybody's anxious," Manhart said. "Car payments still come up. Insurance still comes up. Just because you lost your job doesn't mean the bills go away."
The most frustrating part is that she feels she didn't do anything wrong to be in this situation.
"To get fired, OK, you weren't doing your job," Manhart said. "But to get laid off simply because your business is not what it once was. It's even more frustrating."
Following this week's announcement from Amazon, economists at Florida Atlantic University are voicing concerns, saying this could be an indication of what's to come.
"This is definitely indicative of headwinds that the economy is going to face in the future, and I think more industries tech-focused, probably, are going to see more pronounced impacts from those difficulties," Steve Carnovale, an associate professor of supply chain management at FAU, said.
However, CareerSource, which offers unemployment services in Palm Beach County, is offering some reassurance to local workers.
Tom Veenstra, the vice president of administration at CareerSource Palm Beach County, said unemployment is among the lowest it's ever been, now sitting at 2.6%.
CareerSource believes the Amazon layoffs set to take place are primarily tech positions, which are not positions offered locally.
"Amazon has a good presence in Palm Beach County for warehouses and distribution," Veenstra said. "So our understanding is those positions really aren't impacted."
However, that brings us back to the concerns of local economists, saying tech jobs might be on shaky ground.
"Those sectors that did exceedingly well during the pandemic, when they were just investing any excess cash into those operations and hiring for the sake of hiring, those companies I think you're going to see a huge decrease," Carnovale said.
