Amazon announced plans to cut about 14,000 corporate jobs as part of a sweeping restructuring effort linked to its growing investment in artificial intelligence and cost-cutting initiatives. The layoffs mark the company’s largest since 2023, when it eliminated around 27,000 positions.
Employees affected by the latest cuts were notified on Tuesday, according to Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology. Impacted workers will have 90 days to seek new roles within the company, after which those unable or unwilling to transition will receive severance pay, outplacement assistance, and health benefits.
Amazon currently employs about 350,000 corporate staff and 1.56 million people overall. The new reductions represent roughly 4% of its corporate workforce. CEO Andy Jassy, who has led a series of cost-cutting initiatives since taking over in 2021, said earlier this year that advances in generative AI would likely shrink Amazon’s corporate ranks in coming years by automating routine functions.
Departments affected by the latest cuts reportedly include devices, advertising, Prime Video, human resources, operations, Alexa, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Some employees told Reuters they received termination notices via personal email early Tuesday, informing them they were no longer required to perform work for the company.
Jassy has said Amazon is working to streamline operations and eliminate layers of management while maintaining hiring in high-priority areas such as cloud computing and AI. He also created an anonymous internal feedback channel to identify inefficiencies, which has led to hundreds of process changes.
The job cuts come as Amazon expands its AI and cloud infrastructure investments, including multibillion-dollar data center projects in North Carolina, Indiana, Mississippi, and Ohio. The company has pledged to spend about $10 billion building a new AI-focused campus in North Carolina.
While Amazon’s stock has risen modestly this year, it remains the weakest performer among major U.S. tech firms. Analysts view the layoffs as part of Amazon’s ongoing effort to balance aggressive AI expansion with tighter cost management in an uncertain economic climate.