Amazon to cut 14,000 corporate jobs for AI push
Amazon will cut about 14,000 corporate roles to reduce layers and fund AI, with reductions starting Tuesday as part of a broader restructuring.
Amazon on Tuesday outlined plans to eliminate about 14,000 corporate jobs, with reductions starting immediately, as it trims management layers and redirects spending to artificial intelligence projects.
In a memo to staff, Beth Galetti, senior vice president for people experience and technology, wrote: “We’re convicted that we need to be organised more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.” She added that the company aims to “get even stronger by further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources” to its biggest priorities.
The cuts affect office-based functions across the company. Amazon employed roughly 1.56 million people worldwide at the end of last year, including about 350,000 in corporate roles.
According to people familiar with the matter, total terminations across corporate teams could reach as many as 30,000. Shares edged higher in premarket trading Tuesday. Amazon is scheduled to report quarterly results on Thursday.
The restructuring follows piecemeal reductions in the books, devices and services organization and the Wondery podcast unit, along with tighter attrition targets and unfilled vacancies in corporate logistics and advertising.
Chief executive Andy Jassy has argued that advances in generative AI will shrink corporate headcount in the coming years and has framed the goal as running Amazon “like the world’s largest start-up,” with fewer management layers and more automation.
In late 2022 and early 2023, Amazon removed about 27,000 corporate roles after a pandemic-era hiring surge.
As GNCrypto covered previously, Google told employees it would make additional job cuts in 2024 to prioritize investment in artificial intelligence. The company indicated the reductions would be smaller than last year’s 12,000 layoffs and not impact every team, with further details to follow.
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