New round of layoffs costs 16,000 jobs at Amazon

After Amazon cut 14,000 jobs last fall, the company announced on Wednesday that it will eliminate another 16,000 positions worldwide in a second major round of layoffs. CEO Andy Jassy is tackling bureaucracy with AI.

Impact of AI

Amazon announced the new restructuring operation in an internal memo and did not provide any further details. The news does not come as a big surprise: last week, internal sources already tipped off news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg about a second round of layoffs. The restructuring is part of the retail giant’s broader goal of laying off approximately 30,000 office workers.

In October, CEO Andy Jassy had already indicated that AI agents and generative AI systems would make some jobs redundant, but would also create new ones. According to him, the layoffs are also related to corporate culture and bureaucracy. Amazon emphasizes that it will support people whose jobs are affected. Some of the affected employees will be offered new jobs.