Amazon to Lay Off Up to 30,000 Corporate Workers as AI Reshapes Workforce
Amazon.com is preparing to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs—around 10% of its white-collar workforce—beginning as soon as Tuesday, marking one of the tech giant’s largest cost-cutting moves since 2022.
The layoffs will unfold in stages and affect multiple divisions, including human resources, AWS cloud computing, advertising, and corporate operations, according to people familiar with the plans. Thousands of employees are expected to receive notices this week, with further rounds to follow.
Key Details:
• Up to 30,000 job cuts (≈10% of corporate staff)
• Affected units: HR, AWS, advertising, and other corporate divisions
• Largest layoff since 2022, when 27,000 jobs were eliminated
• Layoffs tied to AI-driven restructuring and post-pandemic over-expansion
Post-Pandemic Overexpansion Meets AI Transformation
Amazon’s leadership views this reduction as a “course correction” following aggressive hiring during the pandemic, when surging e-commerce demand led the company to double its warehouse footprint and expand its corporate ranks.
CEO Andy Jassy has spent the past two years tightening costs while redirecting resources toward artificial intelligence initiatives meant to strengthen Amazon’s cloud business and automate internal operations. In a June memo, Jassy told staff that “increasing use of generative AI will eliminate the need for certain jobs” and described the technology as a “once-in-a-lifetime transformation.”