Amazon to shut down Halo division as part of workforce reductions, promises refunds to customers and informs affected employees
- ByStartupStory | May 1, 2023
Amazon has announced that it will shut down its Halo division, which specializes in health and sleep tracking devices, as part of the company’s broader workforce reductions. The company stated that it will cease support for Halo services by July 31, and will provide full refunds for purchases made in the past year. According to a blog post, impacted employees in the United States and Canada have been informed of the decision.
In 2020, Amazon launched the original Halo band, which not only functioned as a fitness tracker but also provided access to Amazon’s health monitoring and analysis services through a subscription. The company subsequently unveiled the Halo View and Halo Rise, which were a contactless sleep tracker and a smart alarm clock, respectively.
As with Apple and Google, Amazon has ventured into health-tracking technology for consumers, which has occasionally resulted in regulatory scrutiny over its collection of sensitive information such as body fat percentage via its fitness wristband. In March, the company revealed plans to lay off 9,000 workers in its second retrenchment effort, and began notifying some affected employees on Wednesday. According to the company, Amazon Web Services and the People Experience and Technology team heads have sent emails to impacted personnel about the reductions.
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