Amazon Initiates Major Corporate Job Cuts Amidst AI-Driven Efficiency Push

Amazon is reportedly preparing for its most significant corporate workforce reduction since 2022, with plans to lay off up to 30,000 employees across various departments. This strategic move, confirmed in part by the company, underscores CEO Andy Jassy's ongoing efforts to streamline operations and integrate advanced automation and artificial intelligence into its core functions, as reported by Reuters on Monday.

The tech giant confirmed on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, that approximately 14,000 corporate positions would be eliminated, with further reductions anticipated into 2026, according to The Guardian. This initial wave of layoffs is part of a broader strategy to foster a leaner organization, aiming for increased agility and profitability in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

CEO Andy Jassy has consistently emphasized the role of AI in reshaping Amazon's workforce, stating in June that efficiency gains from artificial intelligence would eventually reduce the company's total corporate headcount. This perspective aligns with a growing trend across Big Tech, often termed the "AI-efficiency era," where companies prioritize automation to optimize operations.

Divisions such as Human Resources (internally known as People Experience and Technology or PXT), operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are expected to be impacted by these cuts. Fortune reported that the human resources division alone could see a reduction of up to 15% of its staff, highlighting the widespread nature of the restructuring.

This round of layoffs follows previous significant reductions in 2022 and 2023, which saw approximately 27,000 roles eliminated, as noted by GeekWire. The current cuts, if they reach the reported 30,000 figure, would represent the largest single round of job eliminations in Amazon's history, according to CNBC.

The company's senior vice president of People Experience and Technology, Beth Galetti, stated that these reductions are a continuation of efforts to reduce bureaucracy and shift resources towards key investments. She described the current generation of AI as the "most transformative technology we've seen since the internet," enabling faster innovation.

Despite the job reductions, Amazon is significantly increasing its investment in AI infrastructure, planning to allocate over $100 billion in capital expenditures in 2025. A substantial portion of this investment is directed towards building out AI capacity within AWS, signaling a clear strategic pivot towards AI-driven growth, as reported by cbc News.

• Historical Context and Scale of Layoffs: Amazon's current job reductions mark a significant shift from its pandemic-era hiring spree, during which it added hundreds of thousands of employees to meet surging demand. This move follows previous cuts of around 27,000 corporate workers in 2022 and 2023, making the potential 30,000 layoffs the largest in the company's history, according to reports from Reuters and The Economic Times.

• CEO Andy Jassy's Vision for Efficiency: Since taking the helm, CEO Andy Jassy has been a vocal proponent of streamlining operations, reducing bureaucracy, and leveraging AI to enhance productivity. In a memo to employees in June, Jassy explicitly stated his expectation that AI would lead to a reduction in the corporate workforce, emphasizing a shift towards a leaner, more agile organizational structure, as reported by crn.

• The "AI-Efficiency Era" in Big Tech: Amazon's actions reflect a broader trend across the technology sector, where major companies are restructuring their workforces around AI efficiencies. Companies like Microsoft, Google, and Meta are also fine-tuning their operations, with Meta, for instance, laying off workers from its AI unit to streamline efforts, according to techloy.

• Impact on Specific Departments and Employee Support: The layoffs are affecting a wide range of corporate functions, including Human Resources, operations, devices, and Amazon Web Services. Amazon is offering affected employees severance packages, continued benefits, and career transition support, including a 90-day window to seek alternative internal roles, as detailed by WebProNews.

• Broader Economic and Workforce Implications of AI: The increasing adoption of AI, as seen with Amazon's strategy, raises significant questions about its impact on the global labor market. Goldman Sachs Research suggests that AI could displace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs globally, while the IMF indicates that almost 40% of global employment is exposed to AI, potentially affecting high-skilled jobs.

• Investor Reaction and Strategic Reinvestment: Investors have largely reacted positively to Amazon's cost-cutting measures, with the company's stock seeing a slight uptick, as noted by WebProNews. This indicates market approval for the strategic shift towards AI-driven efficiency, which includes substantial reinvestment in AI infrastructure and capacity, particularly within its highly profitable AWS division.

• The Role of Return-to-Office Policies: Some analysts suggest that Amazon's stringent five-day return-to-office policy may have indirectly contributed to headcount reduction. This policy reportedly led some remote workers to resign, allowing Amazon to reduce its workforce without incurring formal layoff and severance costs for those individuals, as reported by techloy.