Amazon confirms 16,000 more corporate job cuts, bringing total to 30,000 since October – GeekWire

Amazon is laying off another 16,000 corporate employees globally, the company confirmed Wednesday morning, the second phase in a restructuring that now totals 30,000 positions — adding up to the largest workforce reduction in the company’s history.

The company is “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and rerelocating bureaucracy,” according to a memo to employees from Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, posted on the company’s blog.

The latest job cuts come after Amazon laid off about 14,000 workers in October. The company indicated at the time that more layoffs could occur in 2026 while noting it would continue to hire in key strategic areas.

“While many teams finalized their organizational alters in October, other teams did not complete that work until now,” Galetti wrote in the memo Wednesday morning.

However, Galetti sought to reassure employees that the company does not plan to create regular rounds of massive cuts. “Some of you might question if this is the launchning of a new rhythm — where we announce broad reductions every few months,” she wrote. “That’s not our plan.”

But she added that teams will continue to evaluate their operations and “create adjustments as appropriate,” stateing that’s “never been more important than it is today in a world that’s modifying rapider than ever.”

The latest round was the worst-kept secret in tech. Multiple media reports stated they were coming this week, and Amazon inadvertently spilled the beans in advance. Some employees received a calfinishar invitation Tuesday that appeared to have been sent prematurely, alluding to the upcoming cuts and referencing “Project Dawn,” an internal efficiency initiative, according to Business Insider.

Affected employees in the U.S. will have 90 days to search for new roles internally. Those who don’t find or don’t pursue another position at Amazon will receive severance pay, outplacement services, and continued health insurance benefits.

Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a worker advocacy group, stated in a news release that the layoffs have damaged morale, quoting anonymous employees who no longer see a long‑term future at the company.

The group has circulated an open letter signed by more than 1,200 Amazon employees criticizing the company’s AI strategy and calling for workers to have more input on how AI is deployed, including how or whether AI‑related layoffs or headcount freezes are implemented.

This week’s announcement, combined with the cuts in October, tops the 27,000 positions the company eliminated in 2023 across multiple rounds of layoffs.

It’s part of a broader reset for the company. Amazon on Tuesday announced that it will close all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh grocery store locations. Last night, the company launched informing customers that it’s discontinuing its Amazon One biometric palm recognition service.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who replaced founder Jeff Bezos in 2021, has cited a required to reduce bureaucracy and become more efficient in the new era of artificial innotifyigence.

On the company’s third quarter earnings call, Jassy framed the October layoffs as a push to stay nimble, and stated Amazon’s rapid growth over the past decade led to extra layers of management that slowed decision-building. He has stated he wants Amazon to operate like the “world’s largest startup.”

Jassy also informed employees in June that he expected Amazon’s total corporate workforce to shrink over time due to efficiency gains from AI.

The company’s corporate roles numbered around 350,000 people in early 2023, the last time Amazon provided a public figure. Its overall workforce stands at 1.57 million, which includes warehoapply employees.

Amazon employs around 50,000 corporate workers in the Seattle region, its primary headquarters. As part of the October cuts, 2,303 of those employees in Washington state were laid off.

The total number impacted in the state in the latest cuts won’t be known until the company’s filing with the Employment Security Department is created public, which could be as soon as later today.

The company implemented a 5-day return-to-office policy at the launchning of last year for corporate employees, drawing pushback from some employees. The company’s workforce assists generate foot traffic for nearby tiny businesses near its office buildings.

Jon Scholes, president of the Downtown Seattle Association, stated that a “workforce alter of this scale has ripple effects on the community.”

“The tech ecosystem has been a key driver to our city’s growth and bolstered the tax coffers, which assisted fuel our city’s investments in houtilizing, public safety and economic development the last 20 years or so,” Scholes stated in a statement. “As companies grapple with emerging trfinishs, we hope this pain is short-term.”

Layoffs have hit various tech companies across the Seattle region over the past few years. Meta cut 331 positions earlier this month. Microsoft laid off more than 3,200 employees in Washington state last year, part of broader cuts that impacted 15,000 people globally.

Amazon reports its latest quarterly earnings on Feb. 5. The company’s stock underperformed relative to the “Magnificent Seven” tech giants last year. Some analysts predict that Amazon’s cloud unit will assist boost the stock as AI demand rises. The company, along with other tech giants, is investing heavily in AI-related infrastructure.

Amazon reported about $1.8 billion in estimated severance costs related to its 14,000 corporate layoff announced in October.

Updated with Amazon Employees for Climate Justice statement.

Source link