Amazon announced plans to layoff around 14,000 of its corporate workforce as it shifts to investing more in AI amid CEO Andy Jassy’s ongoing crusade to drive down costs at the tech giant. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Amazon said Tuesday it would seek to reduce headcount of its corporate workforce by 14,000, including some compulsory layoffs, as part of a drive to make the company more efficient as it pivots toward AI.
The company made the announcement in a newsblog from Vice President People Experience and Technology Beth Galetti who said the downsizing was a continuation of a streamlining process begun in 2024 to help it operate “like the world’s largest startup.”
“The reductions we’re sharing today are a continuation of this work to get even stronger by further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs,” she told staff.
Galetti said the company was performing well and that the decision to shed posts was a response to a rapidly changing landscape being driven by AI — which she said was the most transformative technology since the Internet — empowering companies to innovate at an unprecedented pace.
She stressed that while Amazon would be cutting roles in some areas it would be hiring in other “key strategic areas.”
“We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business,” she added.
Most employees whose roles were being eliminated would be offered 90 days to secure a new role within Amazon and get priority over external candidates. Those who were unsuccessful or chose to leave would be offered support to make the transition, the company said.
Amazon employs 1.54 million people around the world but more than 75% work in its warehouse and distribution operations, with the current round of cuts representing about 4% of the company’s 350,000 corporate and tech workers.
However, the retrenchment was still expected to be the largest in the three decades since former president and CEO Jeff Bezos founded the company selling books in 1994.
The announcement came as Amazon was set to report results for the July to September quarter on Thursday.
Amazon is the latest of a slew leading U.S. players in the tech, financial, auto and retail sectors that have indicated AI will impact the number of employees they need, or is already doing so, by enabling them keep increasing revenue despite hiring fewer workers.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who has overseen the laying off of 27,000 staff in his four years at the helm, warned in June that Amazon’s workforce would further contract over the next few years as the company shifted to relying more on generative AI.
He encouraged staff to learn how to use AI tools and play around with them to work out “how to get more done with scrappier teams.”
Amazon has said it expects to invest $118 billion in AI and development work on its cloud businesses in 2025.
