Amazon Unconcerned by Its Devastating Impact on Retail Industry

Amazon Senior Vice President of International Business Russell Grandinetti has indicated that the online commerce giant remains unconcerned by its devastating impact on the retail sector and the millions of jobs that go with it.

“Companies have often invented technologies that have then required us to figure out how to reinvest the productivity improvements in new jobs and new ways,” he said in an interview with the Sunday Times. 

“That’s an important societal thing to do, an important governmental thing to do,” he continued. “I don’t think it’s our job to do anything but try to be really good at what we do.”

According to data released by the research firm eMarketer earlier this month, Amazon is currently on track to control a staggering 50 percent of the U.S. E-Commerce market, with a market cap fast approaching $1 trillion. The company has also aggressively expanded into other sectors, including cloud computing, consumer electronics, and even video streaming.

President Donald Trump is one of the many figures to express concern over Amazon’s increasing domination of commerce, pointing to the fact they pay little in tax and are putting many retailers out of business.

“I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election,” he wrote in March. “Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!”

I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2018

Grandinetti pointed to the thousands of jobs that Amazon creates in both Britain and the United States. However, Amazon has long faced criticism for the appalling conditions in which their employees are forced to work.

“We create lots of jobs not only in the company — 100,000 in the US last year alone, 5,000 in Britain — but also in the suppliers we serve,” he explained.

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