The cuts — representing nearly 10% of Amazon’s corporate staff but a small fraction of its total 1.55 million global workforce — come as the tech giant moves to streamline operations, curb costs, and offset overhiring during the pandemic boom years.
Although the company declined to comment, internal sources say affected divisions may include Human Resources (People Experience and Technology), Devices and Services, and Operations, among others. Managers of impacted teams reportedly underwent training on Monday on how to handle layoff communications ahead of email notifications to employees scheduled for Tuesday morning.
The layoffs align with CEO Andy Jassy’s ongoing campaign to reduce corporate bureaucracy and improve efficiency. Jassy has introduced an anonymous complaint channel that has already generated over 1,500 employee submissions and led to more than 450 process reforms.
In June, Jassy hinted that advances in artificial intelligence could further reshape Amazon’s workforce by automating routine tasks. Analysts believe that AI-driven productivity gains may now be enabling Amazon to operate with leaner corporate teams.
“This latest move signals that Amazon is likely realizing enough AI-driven productivity gains within corporate teams to support a substantial reduction in force,” said Sky Canaves, an eMarketer analyst. “The company is also under pressure to offset heavy spending on its AI infrastructure.”
While the full scope of this round of layoffs remains uncertain, insiders noted that Amazon’s HR department could see cuts of up to 15%, according to Fortune.
Amazon’s last major downsizing occurred between late 2022 and 2023, when about 27,000 jobs were eliminated across multiple business units.
The broader tech industry continues to face turbulence: Layoffs.fyi, a site that tracks tech job reductions, reports that 216 companies have cut nearly 98,000 jobs so far this year, following 153,000 layoffs in 2024.
Despite its job cuts, Amazon’s cloud computing arm, AWS, remains a major profit driver, posting $30.9 billion in second-quarter sales — a 17.5% increase, though slower than growth seen by rivals Microsoft Azure (39%) and Google Cloud (32%). AWS revenue is projected to rise by 18% to $32 billion in the third quarter.
However, recent challenges — including a 15-hour internet outage that disrupted major platforms like Snapchat and Venmo — have added pressure to AWS’s performance.
Looking ahead, Amazon anticipates another robust holiday season, maintaining its plan to hire 250,000 seasonal workers, similar to previous years.
Amazon shares closed 1.3% higher at $227.11 on Monday ahead of its third-quarter earnings report scheduled for Thursday.