Amazon plans 14K job cuts as CEO Andy Jassy streamlines company

Amazon is preparing to lay off as many as 14,000 corporate employees starting Tuesday, as the company continues to streamline operations, according to a report by Reuters.

The cuts come as the e-commerce giant continues to trim expenses and rebalance after rapid hiring during the pandemic. The company employs about 1.55 million people globally.

Layoffs To Hit Multiple Areas:

The latest round of layoffs is expected to affect divisions including human resources, devices and services and operations, according to Reuters report.

Managers in affected departments reportedly received training Monday on how to communicate the layoffs, which will be announced through email notifications beginning Tuesday morning.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment to Reuters on the layoffs. 

AI, Efficiency At The Center:

CEO Andy Jassy has been leading a campaign to streamline operations and cut bureaucracy within the company, citing an "excess of management layers."

Earlier this year, Jassy said Amazon’s growing use of artificial intelligence could lead to further job reductions by automating repetitive corporate tasks.

"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, in comments to Reuters.

Amazon’s Changing Priorities:

While Amazon Web Services remains the company’s most profitable division, its growth has slowed compared to cloud rivals like Microsoft and Google. AWS reported $30.9 billion in second-quarter revenue, a 17.5% year-over-year increase — below competitors’ growth rates.

The full scope of Amazon’s job cuts remains unclear, and the figure could change as financial conditions evolve.

So far this year, nearly 100,000 tech workers across more than 200 companies have been laid off, according to data from Layoffs.fyi.

Amazon's message to employees about workforce changes, future plans

Amazon Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology Beth Galetti released the following message to employees:

I want to let you know that we're making organizational changes across Amazon that will impact some of our teammates. There will be communications from leaders to those teams and individuals today, but we also wanted to share the broader context about what’s happening and why.

Last year, Andy 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. Many of you have put significant effort into that work of strengthening your organizations by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and helping reduce bureaucracy. We're already seeing the results, with teams moving faster and many Amazonians feeling more ownership, and the S-team and I appreciate all the work you've done. The reductions we’re sharing today are a continuation of this work 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.

While this will include reducing in some areas and hiring in others, it will mean an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles. 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. For our teammates who are unable to find a new role at Amazon or who choose not to look for one, we’ll offer them transition support including severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits, and more.

Looking ahead to 2026, as Andy talked about earlier this year, we expect to continue hiring in key strategic areas while also finding additional places we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realize efficiency gains.

Some may ask why we’re reducing roles when the company is performing well. Across our businesses, we're delivering great customer experiences every day, innovating at a rapid rate, and producing strong business results. What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones). We’re convinced 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.

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. I’m inspired by what I see across the company every day, and the S-team and I appreciate all that you do.

– Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology, Amazon

MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE

Wind, rain causes power outages across Puget Sound region

Deputies investigate deadly shooting in Shoreline, WA

Here’s how much a Walmart Thanksgiving meal will cost this year

Metro stabbing in Seattle leaves 1 person injured

No SNAP benefits to be issued in November, USDA confirms