Amazon is set to lay off as many as 30,000 corporate employees starting Tuesday, marking its largest job reduction since late 2022. The move is part of CEO Andy Jassy’s effort to streamline operations, cut costs, and capitalize on productivity gains from artificial intelligence (AI), Reuters news report said.
While the planned cuts represent only a small fraction of Amazon’s 1.55 million total workforce, they account for nearly 10 percent of its 350,000 corporate roles. The layoffs will span multiple divisions, including People Experience and Technology (PXT), operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Managers were instructed on Monday on how to communicate the layoffs, with formal notifications beginning Tuesday.
AI-Driven Restructuring and Bureaucracy Reduction
CEO Andy Jassy has been pushing to reduce “excess bureaucracy” within the company. Earlier this year, he introduced an anonymous feedback channel to identify inefficiencies — generating 1,500 responses and leading to over 450 process changes.
Andy Jassy has also acknowledged that AI automation could replace many routine corporate functions, predicting more job cuts as AI tools become more integrated across business units.
Office Attendance and Workforce Realignment
Amazon’s strict five-day office return policy, one of the toughest among major tech firms, has not resulted in enough voluntary attrition. Employees failing to comply with office attendance rules are being classified as having resigned, reportedly without severance — saving the company additional costs.
A previous report suggested that Amazon’s HR division could face cuts of up to 15 percent.
AWS Growth Slows as Competition Heats Up
Amazon’s cloud computing arm, AWS, remains its biggest profit driver, though growth has slowed. AWS posted $30.9 billion in Q2 sales — up 17.5 percent year-over-year, but lagging behind Microsoft Azure (39 percent) and Google Cloud (32 percent).
AWS also recently suffered a 15-hour outage that disrupted major online platforms like Snapchat and Venmo.
Seasonal Hiring and Stock Outlook
Despite the layoffs, Amazon plans to hire 250,000 seasonal workers for its upcoming holiday operations — consistent with the last two years.
Shares of Amazon rose 1.2 percent to $226.97 on Monday, ahead of its third-quarter earnings report due Thursday.
Several ecommerce companies have announced job cut.
For instance, eBay announced it will eliminate around 1,000 jobs, which accounts for approximately 9 percent of its full-time workforce.
Walmart is cutting fewer than 1,500 corporate and tech roles in 2025, specifically within its global technology, e-commerce fulfilment and advertising teams, The Times of India reports.
Industry-Wide Layoffs Continue
According to Layoffs.fyi, nearly 98,000 tech jobs have been cut across 216 companies in 2025 so far, following 153,000 job losses in 2024.
Amazon’s large-scale restructuring signals a broader shift in the tech industry — as major players balance AI investment, cost control, and workforce optimization amid slower growth and tighter margins.
Rajani Baburajan
