Amazon announced Tuesday that it plans to cut roughly 14,000 positions from its corporate and technology workforce as part of a broad effort to simplify its structure, reduce bureaucracy, and redirect resources toward its most important priorities, including artificial intelligence.
The announcement comes just ahead of Amazon’s quarterly earnings report, as the company continues to reshape itself to stay competitive in an increasingly AI-driven economy. The company plans to invest $118 billion in AI and cloud development in 2025, underscoring its shift toward automation and advanced technology.
The layoffs, which will affect about 4% of Amazon’s 350,000 corporate and tech employees, represent one of the largest workforce reductions in the company’s 30-year history. Amazon employs about 1.54 million people globally, with most working in warehouses and logistics.
Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of People Experience and Technology, detailed the restructuring in a company blog post, describing the move as a continuation of the streamlining process that began in 2024. She wrote: “last year, [Amazon CEO] Andy Jassy posted a note about strengthening our culture and teams — explaining how we want to operate like the world’s largest startup, the importance of having the right structure to drive that level of speed and ownership, and the need to be set up to invent, collaborate, be connected, and deliver the absolute best for customers.” Jassy, who has overseen about 27,000 layoffs since taking the helm four years ago, warned earlier this year that further workforce reductions were likely as Amazon leans more heavily on generative AI to improve efficiency. He has encouraged employees to experiment with AI tools and “learn how to get more done with scrappier teams.”
Galetti added that the latest changes are intended 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.”
Employees impacted by the cuts will receive support over the coming weeks and months, and those who do not secure another position will be offered severance packages, health benefits, and outplacement services to assist with the transition. Galetti said “we’re working hard to support everyone whose role is impacted, including offering most employees 90 days to look for a new role internally (the timing will vary some based on local laws), and our recruiting teams will prioritize internal candidates to help as many people as possible find new roles within Amazon.”
Amazon emphasized that while certain divisions are being downsized, it will continue hiring in “key strategic areas” as it ramps up investment in artificial intelligence – which Amazon described as the most transformative technology since the internet, which is reshaping the way companies innovate and operate. Galetti said: “What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. 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.”
Despite the cuts, Galetti said Amazon remains optimistic about its future: “I don’t know of any other company with the breadth of Amazon, the number of exciting bold bets we’re making, and all the ways we can make customers lives better and easier around the world.”
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