Amazon Confirms 14,000 Job Cuts as AI Reshapes Corporate Operations
E-commerce giant cites artificial intelligence transformation and need for leaner structure as key reasons behind workforce reduction
Amazon has officially confirmed it will eliminate around 14,000 corporate positions worldwide, acknowledging recent media reports about significant layoffs across its offices.
The announcement came through a message from Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Senior Vice-President of People Experience and Technology, which was shared with staff and posted on the company’s official blog.
Galetti explained that the job cuts are part of a broader strategy to simplify operations and redirect resources toward the company’s most important growth areas. She said Amazon wants to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, flatten organizational layers, and focus investments on initiatives that matter most to customers.
How the changes will unfold
While some departments will shrink, others will grow based on strategic priorities. However, the net result will be a smaller corporate workforce overall.
Affected employees will receive 90 days to search for alternative positions within Amazon. The company’s recruiting teams have been instructed to give priority to these internal candidates to help as many people as possible stay with the organization.
For those who cannot find a new role internally or prefer not to, Amazon will provide severance packages, job placement assistance, continued health insurance benefits, and other support services.
AI driving the transformation
Galetti pointed to artificial intelligence as a major factor behind the restructuring. She described the current generation of AI as “the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet.”
According to her, Amazon needs a leaner, more agile structure with fewer management layers to respond quickly to both customer needs and the rapid evolution of AI technology.
The company plans to continue hiring in strategic areas while simultaneously identifying opportunities to reduce layers, increase employee ownership, and improve efficiency.
CEO’s earlier warnings
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had signaled these changes months earlier. In June, he discussed how generative AI would fundamentally alter work processes throughout the company.
Jassy predicted that AI would lead to fewer people performing certain existing jobs, while creating demand for different types of roles. He said Amazon expects its total corporate workforce to decrease over the next few years as the company gains efficiency through widespread AI adoption.
The CEO encouraged employees to actively engage with AI tools learning them, experimenting with them, and applying them across their teams to drive innovation and efficiency.
Drawing from his early Amazon experience, Jassy recalled how smaller, leaner teams once created major impact through ambition and ownership. He believes AI now offers a similar opportunity for reinvention across the company.
“Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company,” Jassy stated.
