Amazon announces 16,000 corporate job cuts

Today, Amazon confirmed 16,000 corporate job cuts, completing a plan for approximately 30,000 reductions since October, Reuters has reported. The company left open the possibility of further reductions.

Reuters first reported last week that Amazon was planning a second round of job cuts as part of a broader goal under CEO Andy Jassy, who has been trying to reduce bureaucracy and exit underperforming businesses.

On Tuesday, Amazon stated it was closing its remaining brick-and-mortar Fresh grocery stores and Go convenience markets, ending years of effort. The company also said it was discontinuing its Amazon One biometric payment system, which scans a customer’s palm.

While 30,000 represents a small portion of Amazon’s 1.58 million employees, who are primarily in fulfillment centers and warehouses, it constitutes nearly 10% of its corporate workforce. This marks the largest job cuts in the company’s three-decade history, surpassing the 27,000 positions eliminated between late 2022 and early 2023.

In a post, Amazon’s top human resources executive, Beth Galetti, stated the cuts were necessary to strengthen the company by “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.” Galetti left open the possibility of further reductions, noting some teams will continue to “make adjustments as appropriate.”

The latest cuts are the second major round of layoffs in three months, following 14,000 job cuts in October. At that time, the company cited artificial intelligence and concerns over shifting corporate culture as factors. Amazon has also stated it overhired during the COVID-19 pandemic when demand for online shopping surged.

In a note on Wednesday, Galetti addressed potential concerns, saying, “Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months.” She added, “That’s not our plan.”

On Tuesday, Amazon mistakenly sent an email referring to the layoff plan as “Project Dawn” to some Amazon Web Services staff, unsettling thousands of workers. The full scope of the cuts could not be determined, but employees from multiple units—including AWS, the Alexa voice assistant, Prime Video, devices, advertising, and last-mile delivery—indicated online and in emails to Reuters that they were impacted. Additional affected roles include those in Kindle and supply chain optimization, a group within Amazon’s fulfillment unit.

Amazon, which began the corporate job cuts on Tuesday by announcing the store closures, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The job cuts also highlight how artificial intelligence is changing corporate workforce dynamics. Significant improvements in AI assistants are helping enterprises execute duties from routine administrative tasks to complex coding problems with speed and precision, driving widespread adoption. Last summer, CEO Andy Jassy said rising use of AI tools would lead to more automation of duties and corporate job losses.

Executives at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos stated last week that while some jobs would disappear, new ones would emerge. Two executives told Reuters that AI would be used as an excuse by companies already planning job cuts.

Tech giants, including Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, increased hiring sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic demand surge and have recently been restructuring. UPS, Pinterest, and ASML all announced staff reductions in recent days.

Amazon has been investing in robotics at its warehouses to speed up packaging and deliveries for its e-commerce segment, reduce reliance on human labor, and cut costs.