Amazon is preparing to eliminate thousands more corporate roles, in what would be the company’s second major round of white‑collar reductions since October. People familiar with the situation say the cuts — which could begin as soon as next week — may mirror the roughly 14,000 positions removed last fall and push the total reduction toward 30,000 jobs.
That number, if realized, would make this the largest set of layoffs in Amazon’s history, edging past the roughly 27,000 jobs shed in late 2022 and early 2023. The impact will fall overwhelmingly on Amazon’s corporate ranks — a workforce that makes up about 350,000 of the company’s roughly 1.5 million global employees.
What management has said (and then changed)
In October, internal communications linked the earlier cuts to the rise of generative AI, calling it “the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the internet.” CEO Andy Jassy also suggested efficiencies from AI could shrink some corporate roles. But at a later earnings call he pushed back on the narrow framing, arguing the reductions were about trimming bureaucracy and addressing cultural fit rather than cost-cutting alone. “You end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers,” he said.
That tension — between efficiency-driven automation and leaders’ insistence the moves are cultural or structural — captures a broader debate across tech companies wrestling with new AI tools and how they change headcount and workflows. (For background on how tech giants are adding AI features across products, see how Google’s AI Mode and Gemini’s Deep Research are reshaping workplace expectations.)
Who could be hit
Reporting indicates the cuts could affect teams across Amazon Web Services, retail, human-resources (People Experience and Technology), and Prime Video. Managers were given latitude last year to choose whether to make reductions in October or defer to 2026, and some of those choices appear to be playing out now.
Amazon has told impacted employees they would generally have about 90 days to search for other roles internally — a window that sources say is expiring this week. The company’s recruiting teams have been asked to prioritize internal candidates where possible.
Not just layoffs: management fixes and process cleanup
Jassy’s office has pursued steps to flatten layers and eliminate friction beyond just cutting roles. An initiative encouraging anonymous reports of inefficiency returned roughly 1,500 submissions and led to more than 450 process changes, according to company comments from last year. The aim: fewer managers, simpler processes, and faster decision‑making.
Still, translating that into a concrete head‑count reduction is messy. Sources caution the scope could shift as leadership continues to review teams and roles.
Why this matters beyond Amazon
If Amazon follows through on another large round of corporate layoffs, the move will signal how quickly tech employers are recalibrating headcount in the era of AI and post‑pandemic growth expectations. For workers, the immediate consequences are obvious: job uncertainty, internal competition for openings, and pressure on teams that remain. For the industry, it’s another data point in a broader reweighting of labor needs — especially for roles that can be reshaped by AI tools.
The company declined to comment when approached for clarification. Meanwhile, employees and recruiters will be watching closely for which functions are pared back and whether the cuts truly reflect efficiency gains or a culture reset.
A final note: these kinds of workforce moves ripple. Contractors, vendors and teams that depend on corporate services can feel strain long after headlines fade. For many inside Amazon, the coming days will be about scanning internal job boards and figuring out the next move — with a mix of pragmatism, frustration and, for some, new opportunities.